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THE 


CONSTITUTIONS  OF  FRANCE, 


MONARCHICAL    AND    REPUBLICAN; 


TOGETHER   WITH 


BRIEF    HISTORICAL    REMARKS 


RELATING    TO    THEIR    ORIGIN, 


THE  LATE  ORLEANS  DYNASTY. 


By   BERNARD   ROELKER, 


OF   THE   BOSTON    BAR. 


BOSTON     AND     CAMBRIDGE: 
JAMES    MUNROE    AND    COMPANY. 

1848 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1848, 

By  James    Mcnroe  and  Company, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


PRINTED    TV    TSIl'ttSTON.    TORHV    AND    CO. 
31   Devonshire  Street. 


PREFACE 


The  object  of  the  following  pages,  is  not  to  advance  an 
opinion,  or  speculative  remarks  on  the  causes  of  the  re- 
cent revolution  in  France,  and  the  probable  future  destiny 
of  this  country ;  but  to  furnish  every  one  with  some  ad- 
ditional means  to  form  an  opinion  for  himself.  For  this 
purpose,  the  Constitutions  which  existed  in  France  while 
she  was  a  Monarchy  and  a  Republic,  are  given  here  in 
detail.  The  great  works  on  French  history  constantly 
refer  to  these  documents,  but  state  them  only  in  general 
outlines.  The  fundamental  law  of  a  government  is,  how- 
ever, as  important  in  its  details  as  in  its  general  features, 
when  we  wish  to  judge  of  its  intrinsic  value  and  its  fit- 
ness for  the  existing  state  of  things. 

Brief  historical  remarks  have  been  added,  in  order  to 
refresh  the  memory  of  the  reader  in  regard  to  the  cir- 
cumstances, under  which  the  constitutions  came  into 
existence  ;  and  with  this  same  view,  a  summary  of  the 
leading  facts  and  events  in  the  lives  of  Guizot  and  Louis 
Philippe  is  given,  they  having  been  the  principal  actors  in 
France  during  the  last  epoch  of  her  history. 

In  stating  the  principles  of  policy,  pursued  by  these 
two  men,  the  opinion  here  expressed   in  regard  to  them, 


V  1'  B  K  (•  A  I    I    . 

implies  the  inference  thai  the  r<  <fnt  overthrow  of  the  ex- 
isting order  of  things,  was  desirable  and  just  Those 
who  acknowledge   and  advocate  the  corre<  »f  the 

proposition  <>f  Vattel,  the  distinguished  publicist,  "thru 
whatever  tends  to  change  the  present  state  of  things,  is 
to  be  ranked  in  the  class  of  odious  things,"  will  no  doubt 
draw  a  different  conclusion.  But  it  was  here  taken  for 
granted,  that  there  is  Buch  a  thing  as  a  justifiable  resist- 
ance and  legitimate  rebellion. 

The  original  design,  conceived  some  years  ago,  was 
to  bring  forward  a  work  on  the  forms  of  government  in 
all  the  states  of  Europe,  and  progress  bad  already  been 
made  in  preparing  it,  when  the  sudden  great  events  in 
France,  and  the  consequent  general  interest  now  taken  in 
her  affairs,  seemed  to  make  it  desirable  at  present  to  con- 
fine the  execution  of  the  plan  to  this  country  solely,  and 
to  publish  this  without  delay.  The  brief  space  of  time 
allotted  to  this  task,  must  plead  excuse  for  its  defects  and 
its  incompleteness  as  a  whole. 

B.  R. 
Boston,  May,  1848. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


Pa.::: 

France  under  the  late  Orleans  dynasty            .         .  I 

Guizot  and  his  party,  the  doctrinaires            .         .  t> 

Louis  Philippe  and  his  policy        ....  14 

Constitution  of  Louis  xviii.  June  4,  1814            .         .  23 

Charles  X.  and  his  ordonnances  of  July,  1830  .         .  :;i 

1.  Concerning  the  abolishment  of  the  liberty  of  the 
periodical  press        ......  3-3 

2.  Concerning  the  dissolution   of  the  chamber  of 
deputies 31 

3.  Concerning  the  election  of  members  of  the  cham- 
ber of  deputies          .         .         .         .         .         -  31 

4.  Concerning  the  uniting  of  electoral  colleges       .  39 
Historical   remarks  relating  to   the   revolution    in 

1830 40 

Protest  of  the  deputies  against  run  ordonnances      .  41 
Proclamation  of  the  deputies  to  the  French  people, 

July  31,  1830 42 

Declaration  of  the  chamber  of  deputies  in  regard 
to  the  vacancy  of  the  French  throne,  .\ni>  to  th< 

alterations  in  the  constitution,  August  7,  1830  44 


VI 


1  \i;l  I     01 


11    ENACTMENTS 

'l'lli:   LAW   ON   PEERAGE  OF  DECEMBER  2'."      L8!    I 


France  a  republic      ....... 

Remarks  relating  to  the  constitutions  of  Fran<  e 
when  a  republic        ...... 

The  constitution  of  June  24,  1793 

1.  Declaration  of  the  rights  of  man  and  of  citizens 

2.  The  articles  of  the  constitution 
The  constitution  of  September  23,  1795 

1.  Historical  remarks  relating  to  the  same    . 

2.  Declaration  of  rights  and  duties  of  man  and  o 

citizens         ...... 

3.  Articles  of  the  constitution 
Constitution  of  December,  1799 

Historical  remarks  relating  to  the  same 
Articles  of  the  constitution 


P.\OB 

47 
4'.) 


53 

53 
57 
57 
62 
76 
76 

78 

81 

138 

138 

140 


APPENDIX 

The  law  of  naturalization  under   the  monarch 

i  iVERNMENT  OF  FRANCE 155 


FRANCE, 


THE   LATE   ORLEANS   DYNASTY. 


The  recent  important  events  in  France,  the  total 
overthrow  of  monarchy,  and  the  proclamation  of  a 
Republic,  have  called  forth  a  general  inquiry  into 
the  causes  which  effected  this  political  change,  and 
into  the  probable  success  of  the  attempt  at  the  per- 
manent establishment  of  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment. The  history  of  the  first  French  revolution 
in  1789,  with  its  final  unhappy  result,  induces  many 
persons  to  draw  inferences  as  to  the  same  unhappy 
result  from  the  present  movement. 

Many  there  are,  who,  dazzled  by  the  adroit  man- 
agement of  the  ex-king  Louis  Philippe,  see  in  the 
present  overthrow  of  his  throne  by  the  people  who 
called  him  to  this  throne,  only  the  restless  spirit  of 
the  French  seeking  for  change.  They  suppose  that 
the  constitution  under  which  the  French  lived,  gave 
to  the  nation  all  the  reasonable  liberties  which  are 
compatible  with  social  order  and  prosperity. 
1 


2  ORLEANS    DYNASTY. 

Sweeping  assertions  and  vague  statements,  as  to 
the  actual  condition  of  things,  are  frequently  made 
in  order  t<>  support  opinions  and  speculations  which 
arc  advanced  either  on  the  one  side  or  tie  other.  It 
is  desirable  to  have  the  actual  facts  in  a  definite 
form  before  us,  that  we  may  draw  our  inferences 
with  more  certainty,  and  base  our  opinions  on  some- 
thing more  solid  than  mere  impressions.  The  letter 
of  the  constitution  itself  is  one  of  these  facts  which 
may  guide  us  in  our  opinions.  For  this  reason  we 
shall  give  here  the  constitution  of  1814,  which  Louis 
XVIII.  gave  to  the  French  after  his  restoration. 
Many  will,  no  doubt,  be  surprised  to  find  that  the 
second  revolution,  in  1830,  gave  to  the  French  no 
new  constitution,  but  only  some  alterations  and 
amendments  of  this  octroyee  chartc  of  Louis  XVIII. 

Though  it  was  intended,  at  the  overthrow  of  the 
Bourbon  dynasty  in  1830,  to  establish  permanently 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  obtained  by  the  three 
days'  bloody  struggle,  by  surrounding  the  royal 
throne  with  republican  forms,  and  the  deputy  Oerard 
had  received  from  both  chambers  the  commission  to 
reform  the  charter  on  the  principle  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people,  it  was  mainly  through  the  influence 
and  contrivance  of  Guizot  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
that  this  plan  was  not  carried  out.  Both  these  men 
united  to  hinder  the  monarchical  power  from  being 
curtailed  or  weakened.  They  succeeded  in  their 
designs  through  the  co-operation  of  the  men,  called 
"the  right  middle,"  {juste  milieu,')  also  called  doc- 
trinaires. The  origin  and  policy  of  this  party  will 
be  alluded  to  in  another  place. 

The  alterations  then  made  in  the  old  charter  are 


ORLEANS    DYNASTY.  3 

here  given  literally  in  the  proper  order.  This 
amended  charter  was  on  the  7th  of  August,  1S30, 
accepted  in  the  chamber  of  deputies  by  219  votes 
against  33,  and  of  114  peers  by  89. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  principal  alterations  made 
were,  the  abolishment  of  censorship  of  the  press,  and 
the  initiative  in  legislation  being  granted  to  both 
chambers;  the  qualification  of  deputies,  in  regard  to 
age,  being  changed  from  forty  years  to  thirty;  and 
as  to  property,  the  direct  tax  of  one  thousand  francs 
a  year  being  reduced  to  five  hundred  francs;  and 
the  qualification  of  electors,  as  to  age,  being  changed 
from  thirty  years  to  twenty-five. 

The  property  qualification  of  electors  was,  by  a 
subsequent  law,  reduced  from  three  hundred  francs 
direct  taxes  a  year  to  two  hundred  francs. 

In  consequence  of  this  reduction  of  the  electoral 
census,  the  former  number  of  SO, 000  electors  was 
increased  to  200,000 ;  and  the  former  number  of 
8000  eligible  persons  was  increased  to  24,000.  The 
number  of  deputies  was  fixed  at  4)9. 

The  civil  list  granted  to  Louis  XVIII.  was  twenty- 
four  million  francs  a  year  ;  this  was  reduced  to  twelve 
million  francs  for  Louis  Philippe. 

An  important  feature  in  the  constitution  of  France 
was  the  circumstance  that  no  provision  was  made 
for  the  alteration  or  amendment  of  this  instrument. 
This  defect  was  of  so  much  greater  importance  since 
the  revolution  of  1830,  when  Louis  Philippe  was 
called  to  the  throne,  on  condition  that  he  accept  and 
swear  to  the  charter,  as  altered  and  amended  by  the 
deputies  then  in  session,  because  Louis  XVIII.,  in 
granting  the  charter,  had  taken  his  stand  above  it. 


4  ORLEANS    DYNASTY. 

He  declared  in  the  preamble  to  the  same,  that  he 
reserved  to  himself  and  the  throne  all  the  rights  and 
prerogatives  belonging  to  his  forefathers,  and  that  he 

granted  this  constitution  of  his  own  free  will  and  ac- 
cord, not  as  a  right  of  the  people,  but  merely  to  grat- 
ify the  wish  of  the  people.  Since  1830,  the  king,  the 
peers  and  deputies  derived  their  legal  existence  from 
the  charter,  and  all  three  authorities  united  would 
not  have  had  the  power  to  alter  the  constitution  in 
any  feature  whatsoever.  If,  in  the  course  of  time, 
an  amendment  became  desirable,  it  could  only  be 
effected  by  a  revolution,  the  inherent  right  of  the 
people  to  change  its  form  of  government. 

The  character  of  the  English  constitution  exhibits 
a  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  French  in  this  re- 
spect. It  is  a  fundamental  principle  with  the  Eng- 
ish  lawyers,  that  "  Parliament  can  do  everything, 
except  making  a  woman  a  man,  or  a  man  a  wo- 
man." The  transcendent  power  of  parliament  over 
the  ordinary  course  of  laws  has  been  called  the  om- 
nipotence of  parliament.  By  these  figures  of  speech 
is  only  expressed  the  principle  that  this  body  is  not 
trammelled  and  hemmed  in  by  any  written  laws  or 
established  rights,  but  may  exercise  any  absolute 
power.  It  can  regulate  the  succession  to  the  crown, 
alter  the  established  religion  of  the  land,  and  can 
change  and  new-model  even  the  constitution  of  the 
kingdom.  History  shows  us  that  the  English  parlia- 
ment has  exercised  all  these  powers  in  more  in- 
stances than  one. 

In  France  even  the  perpetuity  of  succession  to  the 
throne  was  established  again  in  1830,  in  favor  of  the 
new   dynasty,   the   Orleans   family.     Whatever  the 


ORLEANS    DYNASTY.  5 

calamities  and  the  misery  may  be,  which  the  new 
revolution  may  have  caused,  and  may  still  cause,  the 
responsibility  falls  on  those  who  virtually  betrayed 
the  French  people  in  1S30,  and  these  men  were  prin- 
cipally Guizot  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans ;  for  it  was 
through  their  influence  that  the  constitution  was  not 
altered  so  as  to  meet  any  future  emergencies  and 
new  wants.  The  constitution  of  England  they  held 
up  as  their  model,  but  they  left  the  French  charter 
far  behind  it  in  most  important  features. 

The  great  literary  reputation  which  Guizot  had 
justly  earned,  and  the  active  interest  which  he  had 
taken  in  the  overthrow  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Bour- 
bons, prepossessed  the  public  mind  abroad  in  his 
favor,  and  led  to  suppose  that  his  policy  as  a  states- 
man would  be  in  accordance  with  his  acts  in  1830, 
and  be  dictated  by  the  wisdom  which  his  literary 
works  proclaimed  him  to  possess. 

A  brief  review  of  his  life  and  his  principles  will 
render  us  more  able  to  judge  of  the  political  course 
he  has  pursued,  and  of  its  final  failure.  While  one 
cannot  charge  him  with  dereliction  of  principle,  one 
cannot  but  see  that  an  obstinate  adherence  to  one 
idea,  without  regard  to  the  change  of  times  and  cir- 
cumstances, must  result  in  the  ruin  of  him  who 
entertains  it,  and  persists  in  carrying  it  out.  Guizot 
furnishes  another  proof  of  what  history  teaches  us  in 
several  examples,  that  persons  who  are  able  to  write 
history,  and  who  are  imbued  with  a  superior  wis- 
dom in  reasoning  on  the  events  of  past  ages,  gene- 
rally prove  to  be  ill  qualified  for  making  history, 
that  is,  for  originating  and  developing  new  events, 
for  affecting  the  vital  progress  of  the  age  in  which 
1* 


G  GUIZ0T. 

they  live.  W  ith  their  backs  turned  to  the  pr< 
they  only  face  the  past,  and  forget  that  time 
not  stand  still  while  they  arc  engaged  in  their 
studies,  to  finish  writing  the  history  up  to  a  given 
date.  The  idea  of  historical  development  in  law 
and  states,  which  has  been  the  favorite  scientific 
idea  of  continental  jurists  and  statesmen,  who  gather 
their  wisdom  more  from  books  and  treatises,  while 
lucubrating  in  their  studies,  than  from  practical  life, 
may  sciwe  as  a  beautiful  fancy  for  scholars  to  dream 
about,  but  so  far  it  has  proved  to  be  only  a  check  to 
all  development  and  progress  of  public  life,  and 
instead  of  regulating  a  gradual  change,  it  has  pre- 
pared the  sudden  outbreaks  of  revolt  and  violence. 

Francois  Pierre  Guillaume  Guizot  was  born  on 
the  4th  of  October,  17S5,  at  Nimes,  and  educated  in 
the  Protestant  religion.  After  his  father,  a  lawyer 
by  profession,  had  been  executed  during  the  reign  of 
terror,  his  mother  went  with  him  to  Geneva  in  1794, 
where  he  studied  philosophy  and  modern  languages. 
In  1S05  he  returned  to  Paris  and  continued  his 
studies  under  Royer-Collard,  whose  political  prin- 
ciples and  views  had  the  greatest  influence  upon 
young  Guizot's  political  creed. 

In  1812,  he  obtained  permission  to  hold  lectures  on 
modern  history.  He  had  already  before  this,  enter- 
ed upon  his  literary  career,  and  published  several 
works,  as,  for  instance,  The  Lives  of  the  Poets  of  the 
Age  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  Annals  of  Education. 

After  the  restoration  he  received  an  office  in  the 
administration,  and  was  soon  made  secretary  gen- 
eral in  the  department  of  the  interior,  and  afterwards 


GUIZOT.  7 

in  the  department  of  justice.  Upon  the  return  of 
Napoleon  from  Elba,  he  went  to  Ghent,  joining 
Louis  XVIII.  After  the  second  restoration  he  was 
appointed  secretary  general,  and  having  of  his  own 
accord  resigned  this  post,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
king  councillor  of  state.  In  this  position  he  and  his 
friends  obtained  great  influence  in  the  cabinet.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  these  men  received  the  name  of 
"  doctrinaires." 

This  appellation  was  given  to  those  statesmen 
who  wished  to  proceed  on  certain  scientific  ideas  of 
statesmanship.  The  leaders  of  this  school  were  the 
Duke  de  Broglio,  Royer-Collard,  and  his  pupil 
Guizot.  They  soon  attained,  through  talent  and 
literary  and  scientific  attainments,  a  decided  ascen- 
dency, and  endeavored  now  to  put  into  practice  their 
views  and  principles,  which  had  been  arranged  and 
formed  into  a  complete  system. 

The  views  and  principles  which  this  party  enter- 
tained were  based  upon  the  conviction  at  which 
they  had  arrived,  both  through  theoretical  study  and 
practical  observation,  that  the  numerical  increase 
and  elevated  condition  of  the  bourgeoisie  or  third 
estate  in  France,  were  a  great  civil  and  human  pro- 
gress, and  that  they  ought  to  have  a  more  extended 
scope  of  influence  and  action  in  the  state  and  in 
social  and  political  life,  beyond  the  narrow  limits 
which  the  old  Bourbon  dynasty  had  assigned  to 
them.  It  was  their  opinion  that  this  political  exten- 
sion of  influence  would  reconcile  the  various  con- 
flicting interests  and  the  tendencies  of  all  parties. 

Royer-Collard,  the  principal  supporter  of  these 
views,  and   former   instructor   of  Guizot.    came   in 


8  GUIZOT. 

1815  into  the  chamber  of  deputies,  and  endeavi 

to  advance  and  carry  out  these  his  ideas,  and  by  his 
talents  ho  soon  succeeded  in  gaining  a  number  of 

followers.  While  the  moderate  constitutional  party 
agreed  with  him,  and  enlisted  under  his  banner, 
both  his  views,  and  his  dispassionate,  didactic  mode 
of  explaining  them,  brought  upon  him  the  decided 
displeasure  of  the  ultra-royalists  and  of  the  extreme 
left,  who  sneeringly  called  his  whole  tendency  and 
idea  the  u  doctrine"  and  all  the  advocates  of  these 
views  the  "  doctrinaires."  However,  this  party 
gained  ground  both  in  number  and  importance. 

They  soon  were  in  open  opposition  to  the  gov- 
ernment, though  they  demanded  nothing  but  the 
charter,  but  this  whole  and  entire.  When  in  1820 
the  violations  of  the  charter  and  of  liberty  became 
more  daring  and  gross,  men  of  all  parties  who  con- 
considered  absolutism  and  the  ruling  of  the  nobility 
and  of  priests  a  public  calamity,  joined  the  zealous 
defenders  of  of  the  constitution,  the  "doctrinaires." 
In  1S2S  Royer-Collard  was  chosen  representative 
in  seven  electoral  colleges.  The  king  then  yielded 
to  the  public  voice,  and  confirmed  him  as  president 
of  the  chamber. 

Guizot,  in  the  mean  time,  exercised  his  influence 
in  support  of  this  doctrine,  through  the  press  and 
through  societies,  and  chiefly  as  president  of  the 
society  "  Aide-toi,  le  ciel  t'aidera,"  (Help  thyself, 
and  Heaven  will  help  thee.)  During  this  period  he 
was  most  productive  in  literary  works.  His  histor- 
ical lectures  delivered  from  1821  —  1822,  he  pub- 
lished under  the  title,  "  Histoire  du  Gouvernement 
Representative,"  and  those  from  182S-  1S30,   under 


GUIZOT.  \) 

the  title  "Cours  d'llistoire  Modernc,"  in  six  vol- 
umes, which  contain  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Civiliza- 
tion en  France  depuis  la  chute  de  1' Empire  Romain 
jusqu'en,  1789,"  (5  vols.)  to  which  his  "Histoire 
Generate  de  la  civilization  Europecne  depuis  la 
chute,  etc,"  is  an  introduction.  Among  several 
other  historical  works,  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Revolu- 
tion d'Angleterre,"  in  two  volumes,  is  the  most  im- 
portant, though  it  remains  as  yet  unfinished. 

In  the  revolution  of  1830  he  was  one  of  the  most 
active  movers,  and  drew  up  the  protest  against  the 
July  ordonnances.  On  the  30th  of  July  he  was 
appointed  minister  of  puhlic  instruction  in  the  pro- 
visional government,  and  when  Louis  Philippe  had 
been  chosen  king,  he  was  appointed  minister  of  the 
interior.  He  now  disappointed  the  liberal  party  in 
many  respects.  It  had  already  been  effected  through 
his  influence  and  that  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  that 
the  old  charter  was  not  altered  on  a  more  liberal 
plan. 

Before  the  revolution,  he  and  his  party,  the  doc- 
trinaires, had  zealously  labored  to  uphold  the  charter 
of  Louis  XVIII.  to  its  full  extent,  with  the  view  of 
giving  to  the  burgherly  aristocracy  of  wealth  equal 
rank  with  the  privileged  aristocracy  by  birth,  imita- 
ting the  English  constitution  as  their  model.  But 
after  the  revolution  he  essentially  changed  his  posi- 
tion towards  the  people.  He  now  opposed  the  move- 
ments of  the  liberal  democratic  party.  He  under- 
took to  prove  the  legitimacy  of  the  king,  who  had 
received  his  crown  from  the  hands  of  the  people  at 
the  barricades,  in  the  old  sense,  that  is,  that  Louis 
Philippe   had    a    right  to   the    throne    by   order   of 


10  QOTZOT. 

succession  ;  he  strenuously  opposed  every  exten- 
sion of  iIm'  electoral  franchise,  and  the  abolish- 
incut  of  the  hereditary  peerage.  Though  all  this 
might  be  in  accordance  with  his  system,  but  his 
fanatic  persecution  <>f  the  liberal  parties,  and  the 
means  which  he  employed  to  suppress  the  demo- 
cratic tendencies,  were  evidently  at  war  with  his 
own  former  constitutional  struggles,  and  made  him 
a  mere  political  partizan.  It  was  in  vain  that  his 
old  master  and  teacher,  Royer-Collard,  rose  up 
against  him,  when  he  and  his  party  carried  the 
September  laws  in  1835,  which  violated  the  personal 
liberty  of  the  citizens. 

The  first  of  these,  relating  to  courts  of  assizes, 
invested  the  minister  of  justice,  in  reference  to  citi- 
zens accused  of  rebelling,  with  the  power  of  consti- 
tuting as  many  courts  of  assize  as  the  occasion 
required ;  and  every  attorney-general,  with  the 
power  of  abridging,  in  case  of  need,  the  usual  for- 
malities of  prosecutions.  It  also  gave  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  court  of  assize,  the  right  of  removing, 
by  force,  any  prisoners  who  should  be  guilty  of  dis- 
turbing the  proceedings,  and  of  continuing  the  trial 
in  their  absence. 

The  second,  relating  to  juries,  gave  them  the  pow- 
er of  secret  voting,  and  reduced  the  number  of  votes 
necessary  to  constitute  a  majority  against  a  prisoner 
from  eight  to  seven.  It  also  rendered  the  punish- 
ment of  transportation  more  severe  than  before. 

The  third  bill,  relating  to  the  press,  enacted  that 
any  one  publishing  anything  offensive  to  the  person 
of  the  king,  or  assailing  the  principle  of  the  estab- 
lished government  of   France,  should  be   liable  to 


GUIZOT.  1  I 

imprisonment,  and  to  a  fine  of  from  10,000  to  50,000 
francs.  It  forbade  citizens,  under  penalties,  less  than 
these,  but  still  exorbitant,  to  take  the  name  of 
republican,  to  mix  up  the  person  of  the  king  with 
discussions  upon  the  acts  of  the  government ;  to 
express  a  hope  or  a  wish  for  the  destruction  of  the 
monarchical  or  constitutional  order  of  things  estab- 
lished, or  for  the  restoration  of  the  deposed  dynasty: 
to  speak  of  any  member  of  that  banished  family  as 
having  any  right  or  title  whatever  to  the  crown  ;  to 
publish  the  names  of  jurors,  before  or  after  a  trial, 
or  any  report  of  the  deliberations  of  jurors  among 
themselves,  to  get  up  or  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
subscriptions  in  favor  of  journals  condemned  in  any 
penalties.  It  further  took  away  from  editors  of 
newspapers  the  privilege  of  giving  blank  signatures: 
it  obliged  them  to  make  known  the  authors  of 
articles  which  should  be  subjected  to  prosecution  ; 
it  deprived  them  of  the  management  of  their  jour- 
nals while  they  should  be  undergoing  any  imprison- 
ment under  the  act.  It  declared  that  no  drawing; 
emblematical  representation,  paint  or  lithograph, 
should  be  published  or  offered  for  sale,  until  it  had 
been  first  submitted  to  the  censorship  ;  and  on  the 
same  condition  alone,  it  declared,  might  a  spectacle 
be  produced,  or  a  dramatic  piece  be  put  upon  the 
stage. 

It  declared  punishable,  with  fine  and  imprison- 
ment, all  attacks  upon  property,  and  all  remark 
calculated  to  lessen  respect  to  the  oath  taken  by  cit- 
izens, and  to  the  laws;  it  demanded  that  the  amount 
of  security  given  by  each  newspaper  should  be 
raised  from  48,000  francs  to  200,000  francs,  (100,001) 


12  GUIZOT. 

was  tlir  sum  ultimately  adopted  by  the  chamber;) 
that  this  amount  should  be  deposited  in  cash,  and 
thai  the  editor  of  no  paper  should  be  permitted  to 

enter  upon  his  functions  until  lie  had  paid  up  one 
third  of  the  sum  in  his  own  name. 

\\  ithout  going  into  further  details,  we  will  here 
only  briefly  state  the  principal  facts  in  his  political 
life  since  1830.  Guizot,  together  with  the  other 
doctrinaires  of  the  ministry,  were  dismissed  in  No- 
vember of  the  same  year,  1830.  He  then  came  into 
the  chamber  of  deputies,  as  a  member  from  Li- 
sieux  in  Calvados;  during  the  ministry  of  Lafitte, 
he  held  himself  to  the  left  side,  but  when  in  1831 
Casimir  Perier  was  appointed  minister,  he  joined 
the  right  middle.  At  the  death  of  Perier,  he  came 
again,  on  the  11th  of  October,  into  the  ministry, 
as  minister  of  public  instruction.  In  this  capa- 
city he  did  much  for  the  improvement  of  public  in- 
struction, especially  of  primary  schools,  and,  through 
his  influence,  the  king  restored  the  fifth  class  of  the 
institute,  abolished  by  Napoleon  in  1803,  viz.  the 
academy  of  moral  and  political  sciences.  He  re- 
mained in  the  ministry  till  22d  of  February,  1S36. 
On  the  6th  of  September  of  the  same  year,  he  was 
again  appointed  to  the  ministry  together  with  Mole. 
When  in  April,  1S37,  this  ministry  was  modified, 
Guizot  and  the  other  doctrinaires  left  it.  He  now 
labored  zealously,  together  with  the  other  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  deputies,  to  overthrow  Mole. 
When  in  January,  1S39,  the  chambers  were  dis- 
solved, he  was  re-elected  by  his  district.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1S40  he  was  sent  as 
minister  to  England,  where  he  obtained  the  consent 


GUIZOT.  13 

of  the  English  government  to  bring  the  ashes  of 
Napoleon  from  St.  Helena  to  Paris.  In  this  same 
year  he  published  the  "  Correspondence  and  Writ- 
ings of  Washington,''  in  four  volumes,  being  a 
French  version  of  Sparks's  Life  of  Washington,  and 
of  selected  portions  of  Washington's  writings,  to- 
gether with  an  introduction  by  Gnizot,  which  pro- 
cured him  the  honor  of  his  portrait  being  placed  in 
the  halls  of  Congress  at  Washington.  On  the  2Sth 
of  October  he  was  again  called  by  the  king  to  form 
a  new  ministry,  and  he  now  took  the  department  oi 
foreign  affairs.  Since  then  he  maintained  himself 
in  his  position,  though  he  grew  ever  more  unpopular 
with  the  nation.  He  labored  strenuously  to  effect 
the  alliance  with  England,  on  which  account  the 
people  gave  him  the  nickname  of  "Ministre  de 
l'Etranger." 

His  ministry  lasted  longer  than  any  since  the  first 
revolution  in  1789,  and  of  the  seventeen  cabinets 
since  1830,  his  maintained  itself  for  nearly  eight 
years,  and  ended  only  with  the  late  overthrow  ol 
the  Orleans  dynasty.  The  guiding  principles  of  his 
policy  have  been  alluded  to  before.  The  particular 
measures  he  adopted,  to  maintain  his  position  and  to 
carry  out  his  views,  need  not  be  alluded  to,  since 
they  are  too  recent,  not  to  be  remembered  by 
every  one  who  has  taken  interest  in  the  contempo- 
raneous history  of  the  states  and  nations  of  Europe. 
Whatever  the  mistakes  may  be  which  he  may  have 
committed  in  misjudging  the  age  and  the  circum- 
stances that  had  grown  out  of  it,  and  in  adhering  to 
a  misconceived  idea  and  doctrine ;  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, that  his  character  stands  high  for  purity 
2 


I  1  LOUIS    PHILIPPE. 

and  integrity,  and  that  his  ability  and  talent*  >tamp 
him  as  a  man  of  marked  eminence. 

I  laving   stated    the   leading   features  of  Guizot'fl 
political  creed,  we  have  also  given  those  of  the  king's, 
Louis  Philippe,  except  as  these  must  necessarily  be 
tinctured  and  modified  by  his  position   as  king,  and 
his  personal  character.      As  to  him,   therefore,  we 
shall  give  only  a  few  statements,   which  may  be 
convenient  to  refer  to  in  reading  the  history  of  his 
life  and  of  his  reign.     He  was  born  on  the  6th  of 
October,  1773,  being  the  oldest  son  of  Duke  Louis 
Philippe  Joseph  of  Orleans  and  of  the  Princess  Louise 
Marie  Adelaide  de  Penthievre.     At  his  birth  he  re- 
ceived the  title  of  Due  de  Valois,  and  in  1785  that 
of  Due  de  Chartres.     He  joined  the  national  guard 
in  1790,  and  also  the  club  of  jacobins,  following  the 
example  of  his  father.     Having  taken  in  1791  the 
command  of  his  regiment  at  Yendome,  he  became 
commander  of  Valenciennes.     At   the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  he  enlisted  under  the  command  of  General 
Biron,  and  distinguished  himself  in  April.  1792,  by 
his  bravery  in  the  battles  by  Guievrin  and  Boussu. 
Having  been  appointed  on  the  9th  of  May  marechal- 
de-camp,  he  commanded  in  the  army  of  Luckncr  a 
cavalry  brigade,  and  rose  under  Kellermann  on  the 
7th  of  September  to  the  grade  of  general-lieutenant, 
and  as  such  he  rendered  important  services  at  the 
cannonade  by  Valmy.  Hcieupon  he  entered  the  army 
of  Dumouriez,   and   won   with  him   the   important 
battle  at  Jemappes.     In  consequence  of  the  events 
of  the  10th  of  August  he  had  renounced  all  titles, 
and,  like  his  father,  assumed  the  name  of  Egalite. 


LOUIS    PHILirPE.  15 

When  the  convention  banished  all  Bourbons,  he  and 
his  father  were  excepted.  But  after  the  unfortunate 
battle  at  Ncerwinden,  18th  March,  1793,  where  Louis 
Philippe  commanded  the  centre,  he  was  included  in 
the  order  of  arrest  issued  against  his  superior  officer, 
General  Dumouriez,  and  went  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1793,  on  Austrian  territory.  Refusing  the  offers 
made  by  Austria,  he  went  to  Switzerland  in  search 
of  his  sister  Adelaide,  whom  he  had  sent  to  Madame 
de  Genlis,  before  he  left  France  himself,  to  place  her 
in  safety.  At  Zurich  and  other  places,  the  authori- 
ties did  not  dare  to  grant  him  protection  and  a  place 
of  refuge  ;  he  therefore  placed  his  sister  in  a  cloister  at 
Bremgarten  in  Aargau,  and  wandered,  accompanied 
by  a  faithful  servant,  for  four  months  about  in  the 
mountains.  At  last  he  obtained,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  General  Montesquiou,  also  a  refugee,  the 
place  of  teacher  of  geography  and  mathematics  in  a 
school  at  Reichenau  near  Chur.  In  this  situation  he 
remained  concealed  for  eight  months  under  the  name 
of  Chabaud-Latour.  After  receiving  the  intelligence 
of  the  execution  of  his  father,  he  resigned  his  office, 
and  went  to  join  Montesquiou  at  Bremgarten,  for 
whose  adjutant  he  passed  under  the  name  of  Corby. 
Here  he  resolved,  after  his  sister  had  gone  to  the 
Princess  Conti  in  Bavaria,  to  emigrate  to  America, 
and  went  to  Hamburg  for  this  purpose.  From  want 
of  means  he  deferred  the  execution  of  his  plan,  and 
took  a  journey  through  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way. After  his  return  to  Hamburg  at  the  beginning 
of  1796,  he  lived  here  for  some  time  in  needy  cir- 
cumstances. His  mother  and  two  brothers,  the  Duke 
de  Montpensicr  and  the  Count  Beaujolais,  had  in  the 


16  LOUIS    I'HILIPPE. 

mean  time  been  set  free  in  France,  on  condition  that 
the  oldest  prince  should  Leave  Europe.  J  le  embarked 
for  America  on  the  24th  of  September,  1790,  and 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  the  21st  of  October. 
When  soon  after  the  Bourbons  were  again  banished 
from  the  territory  of  the  French  republic,  and  the 
estates  of  the  Orleans  family  were  again  confiscated, 
the  mother  emigrated  to  Spain,  and  her  two  younger 
sons  followed  their  brother  to  America,  where  they 
arrived  in  February,  1797.  The  three  princes  travel- 
led through  America,  and  then  embarked  again  for 
England,  where  they  landed  in  February  I  SOU,  at 
Falmouth.  The  three  brothers  now  lived  for  seven 
years  in  the  village  of  Twickenham  near  London, 
supported  by  the  savings  of  their  mother.  In  1807  the 
Duke  of  Montpcnsier  died,  and  the  other  brother, 
Count  de  Beaujolais,  died  soon  after  at  Malta,  where 
the  Duke  of  Orleans  had  brought  him.  The  latter 
now  went  to  Sicily  to  King  Ferdinand  I.  at  Palermo, 
where  he  was  well  received.  Here  he  contracted 
an  affection  for  the  second  daughter  of  the  king,  the 
princess  Marie  Amelie,  born  26th  of  April,  1782. 
Before  his  marriage  with  her,  King  Ferdinand  sent 
him  with  the  Prince  Leopold  to  Spain,  to  uphold 
the  cause  of  the  Bourbons  against  Joseph  Bonaparte. 
The  two  landed  at  Gibraltar,  and  here  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  England,  Leopold  was  arrested,  and  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  brought  to  London  in  September,  1S08, 
where  he  with  difficulty  obtained  permission  to  re- 
turn to  Palermo.  Before  he  embarked  at  Portsmouth, 
he  met  again,  after  a  long  separation,  with  his  sister, 
who  together  with  his  mother,  now  banished  from 
Spain,  were  present  at  his  marriage  with  the  Princess 


LOUIS    PHILIPPE.  17 

Marie  Amelie,  which  took  place  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1809.  Here  he  remained,  living  happily 
in  his  family  circle,  till  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon, 
when  he  returned  to  France,  where  Louis  XVIII. 
received  him  with  distrust.  He  was  appointed 
colonel-general  of  the  hussars,  on  the  15th  of  May, 

1814,  and  now  occupied  again,  after  a  long  exile, 
with  his  family  the  mansion  of  his  forefathers,  the 
palais  royal.  Upon  the  return  of  Napoleon  from 
Elba,  he  retired  to  England  to  the  village  of  Twicken- 
ham, where  he  had  already  sent  his  family  before 
him.  Upon  his  return  to  France  in  July,  1815,  he 
had  difficulty  in  recovering  his  estates  which  had 
been  again  confiscated  by  the  government  of  the 
Emperor.  Louis  XVIII.  s  dislike  against  him  in- 
creased, because  also  he  had  been  thought  of  by  the 
allied  powers  as  king  of  France,  and  because  he 
advised  the  court  to  moderation.  The  more  his 
popularity  increased,  the  greater  became  the  dislike 
and  hatred  of  the  court.  He  withdrew  again,  of  his 
own  accord,  to  Twickenham  on  the  23d  of  October, 

1815,  where  his  family  still  resided,  and  did  not  re- 
turn to  France,  till  after  the  chambre  inlrouvable 
had  been  dissolved  in  April,  IS  1(3,  and  the  court 
adopted  greater  moderation.  Since  then  he  lived 
quietly  at  his  palace,  enjoying  his  still  large  property 
which  the  revolution  had  left  him,  and  the  society  of 
a  large  circle  of  talented  and  liberally-minded  men. 
He  did  not  take  part  in  the  political  troubles,  preced- 
ing the  revolution  of  1S30.  When  on  the  29th  of 
July  the  dethronement  of  Charles  X.  had  been  pro- 
claimed, the  provisional  chamber  resolved,  at  the 
motion  of  Lafitte,  on  the  30th,  to  offer  to  the  Duke 

2* 


18  LOUIS    PHILIPPE. 

of  Orleans  the  regency  as  Lieutenant-general  of  the 
kingdom.  The  duke  came  hereupon  in  the  night, 
of  30th  and  3tst,  to  Paris,  and  accepted  th<  office, 
and  at  the  city  hall,  where  the  republican  party  held 
its  session  under  Lafayette,  he  agreed  to  the  so-called 
programme  of  July,  which  promised  a  throne  sur- 
rounded  with  republican  forms  and  institutions. 
The  regent  having  called  together  the  chambers  for 
the  3d  of  August,  the  deputy  Berard  received  the 
charge  to  remodel  the  charter.  But  the  regent  and 
the  doctrinaires,  particularly  Guizot,  succeeded  in 
preventing  the  charter  from  being  thoroughly  altered, 
except  in  a  few  articles,  as  we  have  stated  before. 
On  the  9th  of  August  Louis  Philippe  swore  to  the 
reformed  charter,  and  took  the  throne  as  King  of  the 
French.  Though  he  had  received  his  crown  at  the 
hands  of  the  nation,  he  was  now  of  opinion  that  the 
succession  to  the  throne  belonged  to  him  as  of  right, 
he  being  the  head  of  the  younger  branch  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  older  line.  Under  this  form  he 
made  known  his  succession  to  the  throne  to  foreign 
powers,  and,  declaring  himself  bound  by  the  treaties 
of  1S14  and  1S15,  he  was  recognised  by  them.  Re- 
lying upon  this  legitimacy  of  succession,  and  upon 
the  rich  class  of  burghers  or  bourgeoisie,  which  con- 
trolled the  chamber  of  deputies,  he  endeavored  at 
once  to  check  the  democratic  movements,  and  give 
preponderance  to  the  principles  of  the  right  middle, 
juste  milieu.  The  firm  and  lasting  establishment  of 
his  dynasty  was  the  main  object  of  the  citizen-king. 
In  accordance  with  this  object  he  became  the  apostle, 
or,  as  he  has  been  called,  the  Napoleon  of  peace 
abroad,  whilst  he  strove,  at  all  risks,  to  maintain  the 


LOUIS    PHILIPPE.  19 

status  quo  at  home,  and  to  have  all  rule  and  govern- 
ment proceed  from  the  royal  will  alone.  The  maxim, 
"  the  king  reigns,  but  does  not  govern,"  had  become 
a  dead  letter  with  him.  Moreover  his  solicitude  of 
providing  for  his  family  entered  largely  into  his 
policy.     This  consisted  of  eight  children,  viz. : 

1.  Ferdinand,   Duke  of   Orleans,  who  died  July 

13,  1842;  he  was  married  to  the  Princess  Helen,  of 
Mecklcnburg-Schwerin,  and  left  two  children;  1. 
the  heir  apparent,  Louis  Philippe,  Count  of  Paris, 
born  August  24,  1838;  2.  Robert,  Duke  de  Chartres, 
born  November  9,  1840. 

2.  Louise,  born  April  3,  1812,  who  married  in 
1832  Leopold  I.,  King  of  Belgium,  by  whom  she 
has  three  children ;  1.  Leopold,  born  1835  ;  2. 
Philippe,  born  1S37;    3.  Charlotte,  born  1S40. 

3.  Louis,  Duke  de  Nemours,  born  October  25,  IS  14, 
who  married  Princess  Victoria  of  Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha,  born  1822,  by  whom  he  has  three  children; 
1.  Louis,  Count  d'Eu,  born  1S42  ;  2.  Ferdinand, 
Duke  d'Alenron,  born  1S44  ;  3.  Margarethe,  born 
1846. 

4.  Clementine,  born  1S17,  married  to  Prince 
August  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  born  IStS,  by 
whom  she  has  three  children ;  1.  Philippe,  born 
1844;  2.  August,  born  1845  ;  3.  Marie,  born  1846. 

5.  Francois,    Prince    de  Joinville,    born    October 

14,  1818,  married  to  Francisca  of  Brazil,  born  1S-JJ, 
by  whom  he  has  two  children  ;  1.  Francisca, 
born  1844  ;  2.  Peter,  Duke  de  Penthievre,  born 
1845. 

6.  Henry,  Duke  d'Aumale,  born  January  16t 
1822,  married  to  Caroline  of  Sicily,  born  1822,  by 


20  LOUIS    PHILIPPE. 

whom  he  has  one  son,    Louis  Philippe,   Prince  de 

Condo,  born  IS  |.~>. 

7.  Antoine,  Duke  dc  Montpensicr,  born  July  31, 
1821,  married  to  Louise  of  Spain,  sister  to  the  queen, 
born  1832. 

8.  Marie,  born  1813,  married  to  Duke  Alexander, 
of  Wurtemberg,  died  1S39,  and  left  one  son,  Duke 
Alexander  Philippe,  born  1838. 

The  sister  of  the  king  was  Adelaide,  born  1777, 
she  died  1848. 

From  this  it  appears  that  he  has  at  present  six 
children  living,  and  fifteen  grandchildren.  The  late 
Spanish  marriage  of  the  Duke  de  Montpensier  has 
shown  the  policy  of  Louis  Philippe  in  a  light  which 
needs  no  comment. 

Without  intending  to  pass  judgment  on  the  course 
of  policy  and  the  government  in  general  of  Louis 
Philippe,  or  to  offer  remarks  on  the  immediate  causes 
of  the  late  overthrow  of  his  throne,  we  would  call 
attention  to  the  one  ruling  feature  of  his  reign  —  his 
basing  his  main  strength  and  power  on  the  aristocracy 
of  wealth,  called  bow-geoisie.  This  word  must  not 
be  applied  to  the  whole  third  estate  of  burghers  or 
commons,  in  contradistinction  to  the  nobility  by 
birth,  but  only  to  the  comparatively  few  burghers  or 
bourgeois  who  are  favored  by  fortune  with  wealth. 
Of  the  34,138,726  Frenchmen,  only  240,000  individ- 
uals could  enjoy  and  exercise  the  full  rights  of 
citizens.  The  law  in  France  distinguished  three 
classes  of  Frenchmen  :  1.  The  one  class  only  enjoyed 
civil  rights,  but  had  not  the  right  of  exercise  of 
them  (see  art.  S,  Civil  Code;)  2.  The  second  class 
had  the  exercise  of  civil  rights,  but  were  no  citizens  ; 


LOUIS    PHILIPPE.  21 

3.  The  third,  finally,  had  the  exercise  of  civil  rights, 
and  the  qualification  of  citizens,  (see  art.  7,  Civil 
Code.) 

By  referring  to  the  constitution,  as  amended  in 
1830,  and  to  the  leading  principles  of  the  doctrinaires, 
it  will  be  found,  that  the  above  remark  is  substan- 
tiated. By  examining  history  it  will  be  found  that 
the  first  revolution  of  17S9  was  the  struggle  of  the 
bourgeoisie  against  the  privileged  aristocracy  by 
birth.  This  object  was  gained  and  secured  by  them. 
The  second  revolution  was  also  originated  and 
carried  through  by  this  same  bourgeoisie,  who  saw 
their  power  and  equality  with  the  nobility  weakened 
and  undermined.  It  has  been  long  ago  predicted, 
that  the  next  revolution  would  be  the  struggle  of  the 
people  for  equality  with  the  aristocracy  of  wealth. 
This  period  has  now  arrived.  Whatever  the  special 
form  of  the  fundamental  law  of  France  will  be,  the 
ruling  feature  must  be  the  equality  of  all  before  the 
law,  and  the  abolishment  of  all  privileges  either  by 
birth  or  wealth. 

Louis  Philippe  has  by  many  been  called  the  great- 
est man  in  Europe,  and  to  his  wisdom  and  govern- 
ment have  been  ascribed  the  thrift  and  prosperity  of 
France,  or  rather  that  of  a  certain  class  in  France. 
It  would  hardly  be  becoming  in  these  men  to  apply 
now  an  opposite  epithet  to  the  ex-king.  But  there 
have  been  others  who  ascribed  the  apparent  prosperity 
to  other  causes  than  the  ability  of  the  king,  and  saw 
in  the  very  policy  which  was  extolled  by  some, 
the  ruin  of  him  who  adopted  it,  and  the  fearful 
crisis  which* was  to  follow.  A  great  statesman  is  he 
who  originates  and  gives  movement  to  things;    he 


22  LOUIS    PHILIPPE. 

must  fertilize  the  present  and  lay  the  seeds  for  future 
development ;  he  must  exalt  the  spirit  of  the  nation, 
and  elevate  its  history.  If  the  low  mercenary  spirit, 
which  of  late  years  manifested  itself  in  France  in 
many  examples,  even  in  ministers  and  persons  of 
high  rank  and  birth,  was  the  fruit  of  the  seed  sown 
by  the  policy  of  Louis  Philippe,  he  certainly  cannot 
lay  claim  to  the  character  of  a  great  and  high-minded 
statesman.  But  it  must  be  allowed  by  all,  that  he 
possessed  adroitness  and  shrewdness,  and  what  is 
called  king-craft,  in  an  eminent  degree.  The  due 
appreciation  of  his  many  great  qualities  and  his 
merits  and  faults,  can  only  be  had  when  the  present 
will  have  been  removed  to  a  greater  distance,  and 
the  passions  of  the  day  against  him,  as  the  cause  of 
the  present  turmoil,  or  the  sympathy  with  him,  as  a 
man  who  has  lived  through  so  many  changes  and 
events  in  the  world's  history,  shall  cease  to  cloud 
the  eye  of  unbiassed  judgment. 

Since  Louis  Philippe  abdicated,  before  his  flight, 
in  favor  of  his  grandson,  and  appointed  the  mother 
regent,  it  is  yet  necessary  here  to  state,  that  upon  the 
sudden  death  of  the  king's  oldest  son,  Ferdinand, 
Duke  of  Orleans,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1S42,  the 
chambers  immediately  passed  a  law  which  bestowed 
the  regency  during  the  minority  of  the  king,  upon 
the  next  male  kindred,  provided  he  were  twenty-one 
years  old  and  did  not  hold  a  foreign  throne ;  but  the 
education  and  guardianship  were  reserved  to  the 
mother.  In  accordance  with  this  law  the  regency 
belonged  to  Louis,  Duke  de  Nemours,  the  king's 
second  son. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    1814.  23 

CONSTITUTION 

OF    FOURTH    JUNE,    1814,    GRANTED    BY    LOUIS    XVIII. 
POLITICAL    RIGHTS    OF    FRENCHMEN. 

Art.  1.  All  Frenchmen  are  equal  before  the  law, 
whatever  their  rank  and  title  may  be. 

2.  They  contribute,  without  distinction,  towards 
the  expenditures  of  the  state,  in  proportion  to  their 
property. 

3.  They  all,  without  distinction,  can  be  admitted 
to  all  civil  and  military  offices. 

4.  Their  individual  liberty  is  likewise  guarantied. 
No  one  can  be  prosecuted  or  arrested,  except  in  cases 
prescribed  by  law,  and  according  to  legal  forms. 

5.  Every  one  exercises  his  religion  with  equal 
freedom,  and  receives  the  same  protection  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  same. 

6.  However,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  the 
religion  of  the  state. 

7.  The  Ministers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
and  those  of  other  Christian  denominations  alone, 
receive  their  salaries  out  of  the  royal  treasure. 

8.  Frenchmen  have  the  right  to  publish  and  print 
their  opinions,  if  they  conform,  to  the  laws,  which 
are  to  prevent  the  abuses  of  this  liberty. 

9.  All  property,  without  exception  as  to  what  is 
called  national  property,  is  inviolable,  since  the  law 
makes  no  distinction  between  the  two. 

10.  The  state  may  desire  the  sacrifice  of  property 
for  a  legally  proved  general  interest  of  state;  but 
only  after  indemnity  having  been  given. 


•>  1  CONSTITUTION    OF    1814. 

11.  All  investigations  as  to  opinions  and  votes  be- 
fore the  restoration  of  the  present  government,  are 

prohibited.     This  same  oblivion  is  obligatory  on  tri- 
bunals and  citizens. 

12.  Conscription  is  abolished.  The  mode  of  re- 
cruiting for  the  army  and  marine  shall  be  estab- 
lished by  law. 

FORMS    OF    GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    KINO. 

13.  The  person  of  the  king  is  inviolable  and 
sacred.  His  ministers  are  responsible.  The  king 
alone  has  executive  power. 

14.  The  king  is  the  supreme  head  of  the  state ; 
he  commands  the  forces  of  the  army  and  navy,  de- 
clares war,  makes  treaties  of  peace,  alliance  and 
commerce ;  appoints  to  all  offices  of  public  adminis- 
tration, and  issues  all  orders  and  regulations  neces- 
sary for  the  execution  of  laws,  and  for  the  safety  of 
the  state. 

15.  The  legislative  power  is  exercised  in  common 
by  the  king,  the  chamber  of  peers,  and  the  chamber 
of  deputies  of  the  departments. 

16.  The  king  p?-oposcs  laws. 

17.  The  proposition  of  a  law  is,  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  king,  made  either  in  the  chamber  of  peers  or 
in  the  chamber  of  deputies,  excepting  the  law  re- 
garding taxes,  which  must  be  first  brought  before  the 
chamber  of  deputies. 

18.  Each  law  requires  free  discussion,  and  the  as- 
sent of  the  majority  of  both  chambers. 

19.  The  chambers  have  the  right  to  petition  the 
king  to  propose  a  law  on  any  subject,  and  to  state 
what,  in  their  opinion,  the  laws  should  contain. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    181  1.  25 

20.  Such  a  proposition  may  be  made  by  either 
chamber;  however,  it  must  be  discussed  in  the  secret 
committee.  It  cannot  be  sent  to  the  other  chamber 
before  a  lapse  of  ten  days. 

21.  If  the  proposition  be  accepted  by  the  other 
chamber,  it  will  be  laid  before  the  king;  if  rejected, 
it  cannot  be  brought  up  again  in  the  same  session. 

22.  The  king  alone  sanctions  and  promul<:;ites  tin 
laws. 

23.  The  civil  list  is  fixed  by  the  first  legislature 
after  the  coronation  of  the  king. 

OF    THE    CHAMBER    OF    PEERS. 

24.  The  chamber  of  peers  is  an  essential  part  ot 
the  legislature. 

25.  It  is  called  together  by  the  king  at  one  and 
the  same  time  with  the  chamber  of  deputies  of  the 
departments.  The  sessions  of  both  begin  and  end 
at  the  same  time. 

26.  Every  assembly  of  the  chamber  of  ]  i!  ris  which 
is  held  out  of  the  time  of  the  session  of  the  chamber 
of  deputies,  or  which  is  not  commanded  by  the 
king,  is  not  permitted,  and  is  nugatory 

27.  The  nomination  of  the  peers  of  France  he- 
longs  to  the  king.  Their  number  is  unlimited  :  the 
king  can  change  their  offices  at  pleasure  ;  he  may 
appoint  them  during  life,  or  make  than  hereditary. 

28.  The  peers  have  access  to  the  chamber  at 
their  twenty-fifth  year,  but  ;i  deliberative  vote  not 
before  the  30th  year. 

29.  The  chancellor  of  France  presides  over  the 
chamber  of  peers,  and  in  his  absence  a  peer  ap- 
pointed by  the  king. 

3 


26  CONSTITUTION    OF    1814. 

30.  The  members  of  the  royal  family  and  the 
princes  of  the  blood  are  peers  by  right  of  birth  ;  they 
have  their  seats  immediately  after  the  president,  but 
cannot  vote  before  the  25th  year  of  age. 

31.  The  princes  can  take  seats  in  the  chamber 
only  upon  the  express  command  of  the  king,  ex- 
pressed in  a  message  for  each  session,  at  the  penalty 
of  all  being  null  and  void  that  may  have  been  trans- 
acted in  their  presence. 

32.  All  the  deliberations  of  the  chamber  of  peers 
are  in  secret. 

33.  The  chamber  of  peers  decides  on  the  crimes 
of  high  treason  and  of  endangering  the  safety  of  the 
state,  in  relation  to  which  the  laws  will  give  the 
necessary  instructions. 

34  No  peer  can  be  arrested  and  prosecuted  in 
criminal  matters,  except  by  an  order  of  the  cham- 
ber. 

OF    THE    CHAMBEPv    OF    DEPUTIES. 

35.  The  chamber  of  deputies  consists  of  the  dep- 
uties chosen  by  the  colleges  of  electors,  the  organiza- 
tion of  which  shall  be  established  by  laws. 

36.  Each  department  retains  the  number  of  dep- 
uties it  now  has. 

37.  The  deputies  are  chosen  for  five  years,  and 
in  such  a  manner,  that  the  chamber  shall  be  re- 
newed by  a  fifth  part  every  year. 

38.  No  deputy  can  be  admitted  to  the  chamber, 
unless  he  has  attained  to  the  age  of  forty  years,  and 
pays  a  direct  tax  of  1000  francs. 

39.  If  there  be  no  fifty  persons  of  the  established 
age  in  a  department,  who  pay  at  least  1000  francs, 


CONSTITUTION    OF    1814.  27 

the  number  shall  be  completed  from  those  who  pay 
the  highest  taxes  under  1000  francs,  but  they  cannot 
be  chosen  at  the  same  time  with  the  others. 

40.  The  electors  of  deputies,  who  may  take  part 
in  voting,  must  pay  a  tax  of  at  least  300  francs,  and 
have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty  years. 

41.  The  presidents  of  the  electoral  colleges  are 
appointed  by  the  king,  and  they  are  legally  mem- 
bers of  the  college. 

42.  At  least  one  half  of  the  deputies  must  be 
chosen  from  among  those  that  are  eligible,  having 
their  legal  domicile  in  the  department. 

43.  The  president  of  the  chamber  of  deputies 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  king  from  a  list  of  five 
proposed  by  the  chamber. 

44.  The  sessions  of  the  chamber  are  public ;  the 
desire  of  five  members,  however,  is  sufficient  to  oblige 
them  to  form  into  a  secret  committee  of  the  whole. 

45.  The  chamber  shall  be  divided  into  bureaux, 
for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  propositions  of 
laws  made  by  the  king. 

46.  No  alteration  can  be  made  in  any  law,  unless 
it  be  proposed  by  the  king  in  a  committee,  and  be 
sent  to  the  bureaux  and  be  there  discussed. 

47.  The  chamber  of  deputies  receives  all  propo- 
sitions concerning  taxes,  and  thoy  cannot  be  brought 
before  the  chamber  of  peers  until  they  have  been 
approved  by  the  former. 

48.  No  taxes  can  be  laid  and  raised,  unless  they 
be  assented  to  by  both  chambers,  and  sanctioned  by 
the  king. 

49.  The  tax  on  real  estate  can  be  granted  only  for 
one  year.  The  indirect  imposts  may  be  granted  for 
several  years. 


28  CONSTITUTION    OF    1814. 

50.  The  king  shall  call  together  both  chamlx  r> 
every  year;  he  may  prorogue  them,  and  dissolve  that 
of  the  deputies;  hut  in  the  latter  case,  he  must  call 
a  new  meeting  within  three  months. 

51.  No  member  of  the  chamber  can  be  arrested 
either  during  the  session,  or  within  the  preceding  or 
succeeding  six  weeks. 

52.  No  member  of  the  chamber  can,  during  the 
session,  be  prosecuted  or  arrested  in  criminal  matters, 
without  a  previous  permission  of  the  chamber,  un- 
less he  be  caught  in  the  act. 

53.  All  petitions  to  either  of  the  chambers  must 
be  in  writing.  The  law  prohibits  presenting  them  in 
person  and  at  the  bar. 

OF  THE    MINISTERS. 

54.  The  ministers  may  be  members  of  the  cham- 
bers of  peers  and  of  deputies.  Moreover,  they  have 
free  access  to  either  chamber,  and  must  be  heard 
when  they  desire  it. 

55.  The  chamber  of  deputies  has  the  right  to 
impeach  the  ministers,  and  to  bring  them  before  the 
chamber  of  peers,  which  alone  has  the  right  to  sit 
in  judgment  on  them. 

56.  They  can  be  impeached  only  on  account  of 
treason,  or  abuse  of  fidelity.  Particular  laws  will 
determine  on  this  kind  of  crimes,  and  the  procedure. 

OF    THE    JUDICIAL    DEPARTMENT. 

57.  The  whole  judicial  power  proceeds  from  the 
king ;  it  is  exercised,  in  his  name,  by  judges  whom 
he  nominates  and  appoints. 

58.  The  judges  appointed  by  the  king  cannot  be 
removed. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    1814.  29 

59.  The  now  existing  courts  and  tribunals  are  re- 
tained.    They  cannot  be  altered  except  by  a  law. 

60.  The  now  existing  mercantile  tribunal  is  re- 
tained. 

61.  The  courts  of  justices  of  the  peace  are  like- 
wise retained.  The  justices  of  the  peace,  though 
appointed  by  the  king,  are  removable. 

62.  No  one  can  be  withdrawn  from  his  legal 
judges. 

63.  No  extraordinary  commissions  and  tribunals 
can,  therefore,  be  established;  but  under  this  denom- 
ination the  prevotal  courts  are  not  comprehended, 
in  so  far  as  their  re-institution  may  be  deemed  neces- 
sary. 

64.  The  procedure  in  criminal  cases  is  public,  un- 
less it  be  dangerous  to  public  order  and  morals ;  in 
which  case  the  tribunal  shall  declare  so  by  a  judicial 
order. 

65.  The  juries  are  retained ;  changes  which  ex- 
perience may  suggest  in  this  institution,  can  be  made 
only  by  law. 

66.  The  punishment  of  confiscation  of  property  is 
abolished,  and  can  never  be  introduced  again. 

67.  The  king  has  the  right  of  pardoning  and  com- 
muting punishments. 

6S.  The  civil  code  and  the  present  existing  laws 
which  are  not  conflicting  with  this  present  document, 
remain  in  force,  until  abolished  in  a  legal  manner. 

SPECIAL    RIGHTS    GUARANTIED    BY  THE    STATE. 

69.  The   military  persons   in  active   service,  the 
officers  and  soldiers,  who  have  their  dismission,  the 
3* 


.511  CONSTITUTION    OF    1814. 

pensioned  widows,  officers  and  soldiers  retain  their 
grades,  ranks,  and  pensions. 

70.  The  public  debt  is  guarantied;  every  obliga- 
tion  to  creditors,  assumed  by  the  state,  is  inviolable 

71.  The  former  Mobility  resume  their  titles;  the 
new  nobles  retain  theirs.  The  king  may  make 
nobles  at  pleasure;  but  he  grants  title  and  rank  with- 
out release  from  the  burdens  and  duties  of  society. 

72.  The  legion  of  honor  is  retained.  The  king 
shall  determine  their  organization  and  decoration. 

73.  The  colonies  shall  be  governed  by  special  laws 
and  regulations. 

74.  The  king  and  his  successors  shall,  at  their 
coronation,  swear  faithfully  to  observe  the  present 
constitution. 

ARTICLES    OF    TEMPORARY    EFFECT. 

75.  The  deputies  of  the  departments  of  France, 
who  had  a  seat  in  the  legislative  body  at  the  time  of 
the  last  prorogation,  remain  members  of  the  cham- 
ber of  deputies,  till  their  places  are  filled  by  others. 

76.  The  first  renewal  of  one  fifth  of  the  chamber 
of  deputies  will  take  place  at  the  latest  in  the  year 
1816,  according  to  the  established  order. 

We  command  that  the  present  constitution,  by 
virtue  of  our  proclamation  of  2d  of  May.  be  laid  be- 
fore the  senate  and  the  legislative  body,  and  be  then 
immediately  communicated  to  the  chambers  of  peers 
and  deputies. 

Done  at  Paris,  in  the  year  of  grace  1S14,  and  of 
our  reign  the  19th. 

LOUIS. 

THE  ABBE  DE  MONTESQUIOU. 


CHARLES    X.,    1830.  31 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XVIII.  the  ultra-royalists 
and  the  faction  of  priests  had  full  sway.  He  died 
in  1824,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Charles 
X.  Though  he  gave  the  assurance,  that  it  was  his 
intention  to  uphold  the  constitutional  charter,  and 
did  abolish  the  censorship  of  the  press,  yet  it  soon 
became  evident,  that  it  was  his  plan  to  annihilate 
the  constitution.  After  a  frequent  change  of  minis- 
tries, matters  came  to  a  crisis  under  the  ministry  of 
Polignac,  which  began  on  the  8th  of  August,  1S29. 
On  the  2d  of  March,  1S30,  the  king  opened  the 
chambers  with  a  speech,  in  which  he  said,  "  that 
the  charter  had  placed  the  public  liberties  under  the 
protection  of  the  prerogatives  of  his  crown  ;  and  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  hand  down  these  rights  inviolate 
to  his  successors.  If  any  intrigues  should  throw 
hindrances  in  the  way  of  his  government,  he  would 
know  how  to  overcome  them."  The  chamber  of 
deputies  adopted  an  address  in  answer  to  this  speech, 
on  the  ISth  of  March,  which  was  passed  by  221 
members,  in  which  they  said,  "that  the  political  de- 
signs of  the  king's  government  did  not  agree  with 
the  wishes  of  the  people." 

The  king  immediately  on  the  19th  prorogued  the 
chamber  to  the  1st  of  September,  and  on  the  10th  of 
May  lie  dissolved  the  same,  ordered  a  new  election, 
and  called  the  new  chamber  together  for  the  3d  of 
August.  But  the  221  deputies  of  the  former  chamber 
were  re-elected.  The  ministry  now  saw  that  they 
could  not  obtain  a  majority  by  the  old  system  of 
election,  and  therefore  induced  the  king,  relying 
upon  the  article  in  the  charter  :  "  The  king  makes 
the  regulations  and  ordonnances  for  the  execution  of 


32  ROYAL    ORDO.NNANCE. 

the  laws  and  the  safety  of  tin:  State,"  to  sign  and 
issue  the  fatal  ordonnances  of  the  25th  of  July,  1830, 
which  arc  here  given  verbatim. 

ROYAL   ORDONNANCE, 

CONCERNING   THE  ABOLISHMENT  OF  THE  LIBERTY   OF  THE    PERIODI- 
CAL   PRESS. 

St.  Cloud,  25th  July,  1830. 

Charles,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  France 

AND  NaVARRA.      To  ALL  THOSE  TO  WHOM  THESE    PRES- 
ENTS MAY  COME,   OUR  GREETING. 

Article  1.  The  liberty  of  the  periodical  press  is 
suspended. 

Art.  2.  The  enactments  of  articles  1,  2.  and  9,  of 
the  first  title  of  the  law  of  the  21st  of  October,  1814, 
are  again  in  force. 

In  consequence  hereof,  no  journal  and  no  periodi- 
cal or  half-periodical  writings,  no  matter  whether 
they  already  are  in  existence  or  may  be  established, 
without  distinction  as  to  their  contents,  are  permitted 
to  be  published,  either  at  Paris  or  in  the  depart- 
ments, except  their  authors  or  printers  have  obtained 
from  us  a  special  permission. 

This  permission  must  be  renewed  every  three 
months.     It  may  be  recalled. 

Art.  3.  This  permission  may  be  temporarily  grant- 
ed and  be  recalled,  in  regard  to  those  periodical  and 
half  periodical  writings  which  are  published  in  the 
departments,  by  the  prefects  thereof. 

Art.  4.  Journals  and  writings  which  are  published 
against  Art.  2,  are  immediately  confiscated. 

Presses  and  writings  which  are  used  in  the  print- 
ing of  them,  are  deposited,  under  seal,  in  a  depot,  or 
are  made  useless. 


ROYAL   ORDONNANCE.  33 

Art.  5.  No  writing  of  less  than  twenty  printed 
sheets  can  be  published  without  the  permission  of 
our  minister  of  the  interior  in  Paris,  or  that  of  the 
prefects  in  the  departments. 

Every  writing  of  more  than  twenty  sheets,  which 
does  not  constitute  a  whole  work,  requires  the  same 
permission  for  its  publication. 

Writings  which  are  published  without  authority, 
will  be  immediately  attached. 

Presses  and  manuscripts,  used  in  printing  them, 
are  either  put  under  seal,  in  a  depot,  or  made  use- 
less. 

Art.  6.  Memoirs  on  legal  suits  and  memorials  of 
learned  societies  or  literary  memoirs  require,  for  their 
publication,  a  previous  permission,  in  case  they  treat, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  on  politics,  and  in  this  case  the 
provisions  made  in  Art.  5,  are  to  be  applied. 

Art.  7.  Every  provision,  conflicting  with  the  pres- 
ent, is  without  force. 

Art.  8.  The  execution  of  the  present  ordonnance 
will  take  place  in  conformity  with  Art.  4,  of  the 
ordonnance  of  27th  of  November,  1S16,  and  that  of 
January  18th,  1S17. 

Art.  9.  Our  ministers  of  state  are  charged  with 
carrying  into  effect  the  foregoing. 

Given  at  our  castle  at  St.  Cloud,  the  25th  of  July 
of  the  year  of  grace  1830,  and  of  our  reign  the  6th. 

CHARLES. 


34  ROYAL    ORDONNANCE. 

ROYAL    ORDON.S  AM  I .. 

CONCERNING     THE     DISSOLUTION    OF    THE    CHAMBER    OF    DEPUTIES. 

St.  Cloud,  25th  July,  1830. 

Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  France  and 
Navarra.  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  may 
come,  our  greeting. 

In  conformity  with  Art.  50  of  the  constitutional 
charter,  and  being  informed  of  the  intrigues  which 
have  taken  place  in  several  parts  of  our  kingdom, 
for  the  purpose  of  deluding  and  confusing  the  electors 
during  the  last  elections,  we  order,  upon  consultation 
with  our  council, 

1.  The  chamber  of  deputies  of  the  departments 
is  dissolved. 

2.  Our  ministerial  secretary  of  state  of  the  in- 
terior is  charged  with  the  execution  of  this  order. 

Done  at  St.  Cloud,  25th  of  July,  1S30. 

CHARLES. 

Count  de  Peyronnet, 

Secretary  of  State. 

ROYAL    ORDONNANCE, 

CONCERNING    THE    FUTURE    ELECTION  OF  MEMBERS    OF    THE  CHAM- 
BER   OF    DEPUTIES. 

St.  Cloud,  25th  July,  1830. 

Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  etc.,  to  all,  etc. 

Being  determined  to  prevent  the  re-occurrence  of 
intrigues  which  had  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  last 
operations  of  the  electoral  colleges ;  and  therefore 
desirous,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  constitu- 
tional charter,  to  reform  the  provisions  of  the  law  of 
election,  the  inconveniences  of  which  experience  has 
shown, 


ROYAL    ORDONNANCE.  35 

We  have  seen  the  necessity  of  making  use  of  our 
right,  to  provide,  by  issuing  orders,  for  the  safety  of 
the  state,  and  for  the  suppression  of  every  attempt 
against  the  dignity  of  our  crown,  and  therefore, 
after  hearing  our  council,  we  have  ordered  and  do 
order : 

Article  1.  In  accordance  with  articles  15,  36  and 
50  of  the  constitutional  charter,  the  chamber  of 
deputies  shall  be  composed  only  of  deputies  of  the 
departments. 

Art.  2.  The  census  of  electors  and  the  census  of 
eligibility  will  exclusively  be  estimated  by  the  sums, 
which  have  been  registered  in  the  registers  of  taxes 
for  real,  personal  and  movable  property,  for  the 
electors  and  eligible  persons  themselves,  in  the 
capacity  of  owners  or  beneficiaries. 

Art.  3.  Each  department  shall  have  the  number  of 
deputies,  which  is  assigned  to  it  by  Art.  36  of  the 
constitutional  charter. 

Art.  4.  The  deputies  shall  be  chosen  and  the 
chamber  shall  be  renewed  according  to  the  form  and 
the  space  of  time,  which  are  established  by  Art.  37 
of  the  constitutional  charter. 

Art.  5.  The  electoral  colleges  are  divided  into 
arrondisscments  and  departements-colleges  ;  except- 
ing the  electoral  colleges  of  departments,  which 
choose  but  one  deputy. 

Art.  6.  The  electoral  colleges  of  the  arrondisse- 
ments  are  composed  of  all  those  electors  that  have 
their  domicile  in  the  arrondisscment. 

Art.  7.  The  present  limitation  of  the  electoral  col- 
leges of  arrondisscments  is  retained. 

Art.  8.  Each  arrondissement-elcctoral  college  shall 


36  ROYAL   OBDONNANCE. 

choose  a  number  of  candidates  equal  to  the  number 
of  deputies  of  the  departmi 

Art.  9.  The  arrondissement-electoral  college  shall 
divide  itself  into  as  many  sections  as  there  are  candi- 
dates. This  division  shall  he  made  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  sections  and  the  total  number  of  <  lec- 
tors, with  the  greatest  possible  regard  to  local  circum- 
stances. 

Art.  10.  The  sections  of  the  arrondissement-elec- 
toral colleges  may  be  convened  at  different  plai 

Art.  11.  Each  of  the  arrondissement-electoral  col- 
leges chooses  a  candidate,  and  acts  by  itself  alone. 

Art.  12.  The  presidents  of  the  arrondissement- 
electoral  colleges  are  appointed  by  the  prefects  from 
among  the  electors. 

Art.  13.  The  departemcnt-college  chooses  the  depu- 
ties. One  half  of  the  deputies  of  the  department 
must  be  chosen  from  the  general  list  of  candidates, 
proposed  by  the  arrondissement-colleges. 

If  the  number  of  deputies  of  the  department  he 
uneven,  the  reduction  shall  be  had  without  infring- 
ing the  reserved  right  of  the  departement-college. 

Art.  14.  If,  through  omissions,  or  nugatory  or 
double  nominations,  the  list  of  candidates  proposed 
by  the  district  colleges  be  incomplete,  then,  if  this 
list  be  less  than  one  half  of  the  requisite  number,  the 
departement-college  may  choose  another  candidate 
not  on  the  list.  If  the  list  be  less  than  one  quarter, 
then  the  departement-college  may  choose  the  whole 
number  of  departement-deputies  aside  from  the  list. 

Art.  15.  The  prefect,  under-prefects,  and  superior 
officers  who  command  a  military  division,  cannot  be 
chosen  in  the  departments  where  they  exercise  their 
functions. 


ROYAL    ORDONNANCE.  37 

Art.  16.  The  list  of  electors  is  made  up  by  the 
prefect  in  the  prefectural  council.  It  shall  be  posted 
up  five  days  before  the  assembling  of  the  colleges. 

Art.  17.  Reclamations  regarding  the  right  of  elect- 
ors, which  have  not  been  accepted  by  the  prefect, 
shall  be  decided  upon  by  the  chamber  of  deputies  at 
the  time,  when  the  same  passes  on  the  legality  of 
the  operations  of  colleges. 

Art.  18.  In  the  department-electoral  colleges,  the 
two  oldest  and  the  two  highest-taxed  electors  shall 
officiate  to  collect  the  votes. 

This  same  arrangement  is  to  be  observed  in  those 
sections  of  the  district  colleges,  which  consist  of  more 
than  fifty  electors.  In  the  other  sections  the  office 
of  scrutator  is  exercised  by  the  oldest,  and  by  the 
highest-taxed  electors. 

The  secretary  is  nominated  in  the  college  of  sec- 
tions of  colleges,  by  the  president  and  the  scrutators. 

Art.  19.  No  one  is  admitted  into  the  college  or 
sections  of  the  college,  who  is  not  registered  in  the 
list  of  electors  belonging  to  it.  This  list  is  handed 
to  the  president,  and  remains  posted  up  in  the  place 
of  session  of  the  college  as  long  as  it  exercises  its 
functions. 

Art.  20.  All  kind  of  discussion  or  deliberation 
whatsoever,  is  prohibited  in  the  electoral  college. 

Art.  21.  The  police  of  the  college  belongs  to  the 
prefect.  Without  his  request,  no  armed  force  can  be 
stationed  in  the  place  of  session.  The  military  com- 
manders are  bound  to  comply  with  his  requisitions. 

Art.  22.  The  election  takes  place  in  the  colleges 
and  sections  of  colleges,  according  to  the  absolute 
majority  of  the  votes  cast. 
4 


:;v  BOYAL   ORDONNAW 

But  if,  after  a  second  voting,  no  choice  shrill  have 
been  effected,  the  bureaux  shall  take  a  list  of  those 
who,  al  the  second  voting,  had  the  greatest  Dumber 
of  votes.  This  list  must  contain  double  the  numb  i 
of  names  ;\-  there  arc  candidates  yet  to  be  chosen 
At  the  third  voting,  votes  can  be  given  only  to  those 
contained  in  the  list,  and  the  election  is  decided  by  a 
relative  majority  of  votes. 

Art.  23.  The  electors  shall  vote  by  ticket.  Each 
ticket  must  contain  as  many  names  as  there  are  can- 
didates to  be  chosen. 

Art.  24.  The  electors  shall  write  their  votes  at  the 
desk  of  the  bureaux  of  election,  or  shall  have  them 
written  there  by  one  of  the  scrutators. 

Art.  25.  The  name,  rank,  and  place  of  residence 
of  each  elector,  who  hands  in  his  election  ticket, 
shall  be  registered  by  the  secretary  on  a  list,  for  the 
purpose  of  proving  the  number  of  votes. 

Art.  26.  Every  scrutinium  shall  remain  open  six 
hours,  and  then  at  the  same  session  be  concluded. 

Art.  27.  A  record  shall  be  kept  of  each  session, 
which  shall  be  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the 
bureaux  of  election. 

Art.  28.  According  to  Art.  46  of  the  constitutional 
charter,  no  amendment  can  be  made  to  a  law  in  the 
chamber,  unless  it  shall  have  proceeded  from  us. 
and  be  approved  by  us.  and  unless  it  shall  have 
been  referred  to  the  bureaux,  and  been  there  dis- 
cussed. 

Art.  29.  All  regulations  conflicting  with  the  pres- 
ent ordonnance,  are  without  force. 

Art.  30.  Our  ministerial  secretaries  of  state  are 
charged  with  carrying  into  effect  this  ordonnance. 


ROYAL    OKDONNANCE.  39 

Given  at  the  castle  of  St.  Cloud,  25th  of  July,  1830, 

and  of  our  reign  the  sixth. 

CHARLES. 

THROUGH    THE    KING  '. 

Prince  de  Polignac,  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers. 

Ciiantelauze,  Keeper  of  the  Seal,  Minister  of  Justice. 

Baron  Haussez,  Minister  of  the  Marine  and  the  Colonies. 

Count  Peyronnet,  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

Montdel,  Minister  and  Secretary  of  State  of  the  Finances. 

Count  Guernon-Ranville,  Minister  of  Church  Affairs  and  Public 

Instruction. 
Capelle,  Minister  of  Public  Works. 


ROYAL    ORDONNANCE, 
CONCERNING  THE   UNITING    OF    THE    ELECTORAL  COLLEGES. 

St.  Cloud,  25th  July,  1S30. 

Charles,  etc.,  to  all,  etc., 

Upon  considering  the  ordonnance  of  this  day,  in 
regard  to  the  organization  of  electoral  colleges  ; 
at  the  motion  of  our  ministerial  secretary  of  state 
of  the  department  of  the  interior, 

We  have  resolved,  and  do  resolve,  as  follows : 

Art.  1.  The  electoral  colleges  shall  be  united;  the 
electoral  colleges  of  the  arrondissements  on  the  6th 
of  September  next,  and  the  electoral  colleges  of  the 
departments  of  the  13th  of  the  same  month. 

Art.  2.  The  chambers  of  peers  and  deputies  of 
the  departments  are  called  together  for  the  28th  of 
next  month,  September. 

Art.  3.  Our  ministerial  secretary  of  state  is  charged 
with  carrying  into  effect  this  ordonnance. 

CHARLES. 
Given  at  St.  Cloud. 

THROUGH    THE    KING : 

Count  de  Peyronnet, 

Secretary  of  State. 


40  BOTAL   OBDONNANCB. 

These  ordonnances  appeared  on  the  morning  of 
the  26th  of  July,  in  the  official  gazette,  "  Moniteur." 

On  the  same  day  the  "Temps"  and  ".National," 
came  out  against  this  interpretation  of  the  article  in 
the  charter,  and  forty-four  literary  men  signed  a 
protest  against  the  ordonnances.  Thereupon  the 
police  seized  and  destroyed  the  presses  of  the  liberal 
papers,  the  proprietors  called  upon  the  protection  of 
the  law,  and  the  court  declared,  that  the  journalists 
could  not  be  hindered  from  continuing  their  papers 
till  judgment  had  been  given  against  them.  The 
printers,  bookbinders,  and  booksellers  now  closed 
their  shops  and  stores,  which  threw  thousands  of 
men  out  of  employ.  On  the  27th,  the  deputies 
present  in  Paris  also  signed  a  protest  against  the 
ordonnances,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Guizot,  and 
is  here  given.  On  this  same  day  the  people  began  to 
destroy  the  royal  coat  of  arms,  and  to  break  open 
the  magazines  of  arms,  and  their  rage  rose  to  the 
utmost,  when  the  royal  guard  fired  upon  them. 
The  troops  of  the  line  refused  to  make  use  of  their 
weapons. 

On  the  2Sth,  the  court  and  ministers,  except  Po- 
lignac,  fled  to  the  king  at  St.  Cloud;  Paris  now 
became  the  scene  of  a  bloody  fight  between  the  cit- 
izens and  the  troops.  On  the  29th,  the  deputies 
present  sent  a  committee  to  Polignac,  offering  that 
all  hostilities  should  cease,  if  the  ordonnances  were 
recalled.  But  this  was  refused,  and  the  combat  was 
renewed,  and  the  troops  were  finally  defeated.  In 
the  course  of  the  day  a  provisional  government  had 
been  formed,  consisting  of  Lafayette,  the  Duke 
Choiseul,  and  the  General  Gerard,  who  proclaimed 


PROTEST    OF    THE    DEPUTIES.  ]  1 

the  dethronement  of  Charles  X.  The  peers  and 
deputies  assembled  at  the  house  of  Lafitte,  and 
resolved  to  transfer  the  regency  upon  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  as  Lieutenant  General  of  the  Kingdom.  He 
came  to  Paris  on  the  30th  July,  and  took  upon  him- 
self the  office,  and  appointed  Gerard,  Guizot,  Louis, 
Dupont  de  l'Eure,  Bignon,  and  Jourdan,  as  the 
provisional  ministry. 

PROTEST, 

OF  THE  DEPUTIES    PRESENT    IN    PARIS,  AGAINST  THE  ORDONNANCES 
OF   25TH    JULY. 

Paris.  27th  July,  1S30. 

Undersigned,  who  have  been  regularly  nominated 
as  deputies  by  the  above  named  district  and  depart- 
ment-colleges, and  who  are  at  present  in  Paris,  hold 
themselves,  in  honor  and  duty  bound  to  protest 
against  the  measures  which  the  councillors  of  the 
crown  have  within  the  last  few  days  taken  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  legal  system  of  election. 

The  mentioned  measures,  contained  in  the  ordon- 
nances  of  25th  of  July,  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
undersigned,  directly  contrary  to  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  chamber  of  peers,  to  the  political 
rights  of  Frenchmen,  and  to  the  opinions  and  de- 
crees of  the  courts,  and  calculated  to  cause  a  dis- 
turbance in  the  state,  which  will  put  in  peril  both 
the  peace  of  the  present,  and  the  safety  of  the  fu- 
ture. 

Undersigned,    faithful    to   their    oaths,    therefore 
unanimously  protest,  not  only  against  the  aforemen- 
tioned measures,   but   also   against   all   acts  which 
may  possibly  proceed  from  them. 
4* 


42  PROCLAMATION   OP   THE   DEPUTIES. 

Ami  since,  on  the  one  hand,  the  chamber  of  dep- 
uties, which  had  not  been  organized,  could  not  be 

legally  dissolved;   and    since1,  on  the  Other   hand,  the 

;itt-  injii  to  form  a  new  chamber  of  deputies,  in  a 
new  and  arbitrary  manner,  is  directly  contrary  to 
the  constitutional  charter  and  the  justly  acquired 
rights  of  electors  ;  we,  the  undersigned,  declare  that 
we  still  hold  ourselves  legally  chosen  as  deputies  hy 
the  district,  and  the  department  colleges,  whose  votes 
they  received,  and  think  that  we  can  be  replaced 
only  through  elections  which  take  place  according 
to  legal  principles  and  forms. 

If,  finally,  the  undersigned  do  not  in  fact  exercise 
the  rights,  and  do  not  fulfil  all  the  duties  which  are 
incumbent  on  them  by  virtue  of  this  legal  election, 
it  is  only  because  they  are  hindered  from  it  by  physi- 
cal force. 

Signed  by  sixty-three  names,  among  which  are  those  of 
Guizot,  General  Lafayette,  and  Benjamin  Constant. 

PROCLAMATION 

OF    THE    DEPUTIES    OF  THE  DEPARTMENTS,  ASSEMBLED  IN  PARIS, 

TO    THE    FRENCH    PEOPLE. 

31st  July,  1S30. 

Frenchmen  :  France  is  free.  Absolute  power 
raised  its  banner  ;  the  heroic  population  of  Paris 
has  thrown  it  down.  Paris,  being  attacked,  made 
the  sacred  cause,  which  had  triumphed  in  vain 
through  the  elections,  to  triumph  by  force  of  arms 
over  a  power  which  usurped  our  rights,  and  at  the 
same  time  threatened  our  freedom  and  social  order. 
There  is  no  longer  any  fear  for  our  acquired  rights, 
and  no  bar  between  us  and  the  rights  which  are 
still  wanting. 


PROCLAMATION   OF    THE    DEPUTIES.  43 

A  government  which  guaranties  us  these  boons  is 
now  the  first  want  of  our  country.  Frenchmen,  those 
of  your  deputies  who  are  at  present  in  Paris,  have 
agreed,  and  in  consideration  of  the  regular  interven- 
tion of  the  chambers,  they  have  invited  a  French- 
man who  has  never  drawn  his  sword  but  for  France, 
namely,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  to  take  upon  himself 
the  functions  of  a  lieutenant-general  of  the  king- 
dom. This  is  in  their  opinion  the  surest  way  of 
crowning  by  peace  the  results  of  a  most  legal  resist- 
ance. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  is  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
the  nation  and  to  the  constitution ;  he  has  always 
defended  its  interests  and  proclaimed  its  principles. 
He  will  respect  our  rights;  for  he  receives  his  own 
from  us.  We  shall  secure  to  ourselves,  by  laws,  all 
necessary  safeguards,  to  make  freedom  strong  and 
lasting,  viz. 

1.  Restoration  of  the  national  guard,  and  the 
taking  part  of  the  national  guardsmen  in  the  election 
of  their  officers. 

2.  The  taking  part  of  citizens  in  forming  the  de- 
partmental and  municipal  administration. 

3.  A  jury  for  offences  against  the  law  of  the  press. 

4.  A  legally  organized  responsibility  of  ministers 
and  of  the  subordinate  agents  of  the  administration. 

5.  A  legally  secured  position  of  military  persons. 
G.  The  re-election  of  deputies  advanced  to  public 

offices. 

We  shall  finally,  together  with  the  chief  of  the 
state,  give  to  our  institutions  the  development  which 
they  require. 

Frenchmen !    The  Duke  of  Orleans  has  himself 


•11  DECLARATION  01    THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPOT 

already  spoken,  and  his  language  is  such  as  is 
proper  for  a  free  country.  "The  chambers  will 
meet,"  ho  says  to  you,  "  they  will  think  o.f  means 
to  secure  the  country,  the  laws,  and  the  upholding 
of  the  rights  of  the  nation." 

"  The  charter  will  in  future  be  a  truth." 

Signed  by  ninety-four  deputies. 

DECLARATION  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPUTIES, 

IN  REGARD  TO  THE  VACANCY  OF  THE  FRENCH  THRONE,  AND 
TO  THE  ALTERATIONS  IN  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  AUGUST  7tH, 
1830. 

Whereas,  the  chamber  of  deputies  has  taken 
into  consideration  the  commanding  necessity  which 
is  called  forth  by  the  events  of  the  26th,  27th  and 
29th  of  July,  and  the  days  following,  and  the  gen- 
eral condition  in  which  France  sees  herself  placed 
by  the  violation  of  the  constitutional  charter;  and 
whereas,  it  further  considers,  that  in  consequence  of 
this  violation,  and  of  the  heroic  resistance  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Paris,  his  Majesty  Charles  X.,  his  Royal  High- 
ness Louis  Antoine  Dauphin,  and  all  members  of 
the  older  line  of  the  royal  family,  have  at  this  mo- 
ment left  France  ; 

It  declares,  that  the  throne  is  vacant,  in  fact 
and  in  law,  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  unavoidably 
necessary  to  make  proper  provisions. 

The  chamber  of  deputies  declares,  secondly,  that, 
by  the  wish  and  interest  of  the  French  nation, 
the  preamble  of  the  constitutional  charter  is  annulled, 
because  it  offends  the  national  dignity,  as  it  might 
seem  by  it,  that  rights  that  essentially  belong  to 
them,  had  only  been  granted  to  Frenchmen  ;  and 


DECLARATION  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPUTIES.  45 

that  the  following  articles  of  the  same  charter  are 
either  to  be  cancelled,  or  to  be  altered  in  the  follow- 
ing manner : 

Art.  6.  Cancelled. 

Art.  7.  The  ministers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  re- 
ligion, which  the  majority  of  Frenchmen  confess, 
and  those  of  other  Christian  religions,  receive  sala- 
ries from  the  state  treasure. 

Art.  8.  Frenchmen  have  the  right  to  publish  and 
print  their  thoughts,  if  they  be  conformable  to  the 
laws.  The  censorship  of  the  press  can  never  be 
again  introduced. 

Art.  14.  The  king  is  the  supreme  head  of  the 
state,  he  commands  the  forces  by  land  and  sea,  de- 
clares war,  concludes  treaties  of  peace,  alliance  and 
commerce,  appoints  to  all  offices  of  public  adminis- 
tration, and  issues  the  regulations  and  orders  neces- 
sary for  the  execution  of  the  laws,  without  being  able 
ever  to  suspend  the  laws,  or  to  dispense  from  their 
being  executed. 

Foreign  troops  can  only  by  a  law  be  admitted  into 
the  service  of  the  state. 

Art.  15.  The  words  "  of  the  Departments"  are 
to  be  cancelled. 

Art.  1G  &  17.  The  proposing  of  laws  belongs  to 
the  king,  the  chamber  of  peers,  and  the  chamber 
of  deputies.  Nevertheless,  every  law  regarding 
taxes  must  be  first  voted  for  by  the  chamber  of 
deputies. 

Art.  19,  20  &  21,  are  to  be  cancelled,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  to  be  substituted  :  When  a  bill  has  been 
rejected  by  one  of  the  three  powers,  it  cannot  be 
brought  forward  again  in  the  same  session. 


46  DECLARATION  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPUTIES. 

Art.  26.  Any  assembly  of  the  chamber  of  peers, 
which  is  held  out  of  the  time  of  the  session  of  the 
chamber  of  deputies,  is  not  permitted,  and  is  nuga- 
tory in  law,  with  this  only  exception,  when  they  are 
convened  as  a  court ;  but  in  this  case  they  exercise 
judicial  functions  only. 

Art.  30.  The  princes  of  the  blood  are  peers  by 
birth ;  they  have  their  seats  immediately  after  the 
president. 

Art.  31.   Cancelled. 

Art.  32.  The  sessions  of  the  chamber  of  peers 
are  public,  like  those  of  the  chamber  of  deputies. 

Art.  36.  Cancelled. 

Art.  37.  The  deputies  are  chosen  for  five  years. 

Art.  38.  No  deputy  can  be  admitted  into  the 
chamber  unless  he  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  years,  and  have  the  other  legal  qualifica- 
tions. 

Art.  39.  But  if  in  a  department  no  fifty  persons 
of  the  required  age  can  be  found,  who  pay  the  taxes 
required  for  being  eligible  ;  the  number  shall  be 
completed  from  among  those  who  are  taxed  the 
highest,  and  these  can  be  chosen  like  the  others. 

Art.  40.  No  one  is  elector  unless  he  be  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  and  have  the  other  legal  qualifi- 
cations. 

Art.  41.  The  presidents  of  the  electoral  colleges 
are  appointed  by  the  electors. 

Art.  43.  The  president  of  the  chamber  of  depu- 
ties is  chosen  by  the  same  at  the  opening  of  each 
session. 

Art.  46  &  47.  Cancelled  (in  consequence  of  the 
initiative.) 


DECLARATION  OF  THE  CH AMEER  OF  DEPUTIES.     47 

Art.  56.  Cancelled. 

Art.  63.  No  extraordinary  commissions  or  tribu- 
nals can  be  established,  under  any  title  or  name 
whatsoever. 

Art.  73.  The  colonies  are  governed  by  special 
laws. 

Art.  74.  The  king  and  his  successors  swear,  upon 
their  entering  into  office,  in  the  presence  of  both 
chambers,  to  uphold  the  constitutional  charter. 

Art.  75.  The  present  charter,  and  all  rights  which 
it  grants,  are  intrusted  to  the  love  of  country  and 
to  the  courage  of  the  national  guards,  and  to  that 
of  all  French  citizens. 

Art.  76.  France  again  resumes  her  colors  ;  no 
other  than  the  three-colored  cockade  shall  be  worn. 

Art.  75  &  76.  Cancelled. 

SPECIAL     ENACTMENTS. 

All  nominations  and  new  appointments  of  peers, 
which  have  taken  place  under  the  reign  of  Charles 
X.,  are  declared  null  and  void. 

Art.  27  of  the  charter  will,  in  the  session  of  1831, 
be  submitted  to  a  new  examination.  The  chamber 
of  deputies  declares,  in  the  third  place,  that  it  is 
necessary,  gradually,  by  separate  laws,  which  are 
to  be  made  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  to  make 
provision  for  the  following  subjects  : 

1.  The  introduction  of  the  jury  for  political  crimes 
and  transgressions  of  the  press. 

2.  The  responsibility  of  ministers  and  other  agents 
of  government. 

3.  The  re-election  of  deputies  who  are  appointed 
to  salaried  public  offices. 


48         DECLARATION  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  DEPTTTIEE. 

4.  The  yearly  voting  on  the  contingent  of  the 
army. 

5.  The  organizing  of  the  national  guard,  and  the 
taking  part  of  the  national  gnardists  in  the  election 
of  their  officers. 

6.  Regulations  which  secure,  in  a  legal  manner, 
the  condition  of  officers  of  every  grade,  both  of  the 
land  and  marine  forces. 

7.  Departmental  and  municipal  organizations  foun- 
ded upon  an  electoral  system. 

8.  Public  instruction  and  freedom  of  instruction. 

9.  Abolishment  of  double  voting,  and  establish- 
ment of  conditions  of  qualification  for  electors  and 
eligibility. 

10.  The  declaration  that  all  laws  and  ordonnances 
which  are  conflicting  with  the  provisions  of  the  re- 
formed charter,  are  null  and  void  for  the  present  and 
future. 

Together  with  the  adoption  of  these  provisions 
and  propositions,  the  chamber  of  deputies  finally 
declares,  that  the  general  and  urgent  interest  of  the 
French  people  calls  to  the  throne  His  Royal  High- 
ness, Louis  Philippe,  of  Orleans,  Duke  of  Orleans. 
Lieutenant  General  of  the  kingdom,  and  his  heirs 
for  all  the  future,  in  the  male  line,  according  to  the 
law  of  primogeniture,  with  exclusion  of  the  female 
line  and  its  heirs. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing,  His  Royal  High- 
ness, Louis  Philippe,  of  Orleans,  Duke  of  Orleans, 
Lieutenant  General  of  the  kingdom,  will  be  invited 
to  accept  and  swear  to  the  foregoing  clauses  and  ob- 
ligations to  the  observing  of  the  constitutional  char- 
ter, and  the  specified  modifications,  and.  after  having 


LAW    OF    PEERAGE.  49 

done  this  in  presence  of  the  assembled  chambers,  to 
take  the  title  of  King  of  Frenchmen. 

Deliberated  in  the  Palace  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  the  7th  August,  1830. 

THE  PRESIDENT  AND  THE  SECRETARIES. 

LAFITTE,  Vice  President. 
Jacqueminot,  Pavee  de  Vandeuvre,  Cunin-Gridaine,  Jars. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1830,  the  rank  of  King, 
with  the  hereditary  right  to  his  male  heirs,  was  con- 
ferred upon  Louis  Philippe,  Lieutenant  General  of 
the  kingdom,  after  having  acknowledged  and  ac- 
cepted the  revised  constitution,  which  was  read  to 
him  by  the  president  of  the  chamber  of  deputies. 
Lafitte. 

On  the  same  day,  this  constitutional  charter  of 
1814,  as  amended  by  the  two  chambers  on  the  7th 
and  9th  of  August,  was  published  by  Louis  Philippe 
as  King  of  the  French,  signed  by  him,  and  counter- 
signed by  Dupont  (de  l'Eure),  keeper  of  the  great 
seal  and  secretary  of  the  department  of  justice. 
and  by  Guizot,  secretary  of  state  in  the  department 
of  the  interior. 

LAW  ON  PEERAGE,  OF  DECEMBER  29,  1831. 

LOUIS    PHILIPPE,    ETC. 

The  power  of  appointing  members  to  the  chamber 
of  peers,  belongs  to  the  king,  who  may  ehoo.se  then: 
from  among  the  following  persons  of  rank  : 

The  president  of  the  chamber  of  deputies,  and  of 
other  legislative  assemblies  ; 


50  LAW    OF    PBBBA0E. 

The  deputies  who  have  taken  part  in  three  legis- 
latures, or  who  have  been  six  years  in  office; 

The  marshals  and  admirals  of  France; 

The  lieutenants-general  and  vice-admirals  of  the 
land  and  marine  forces,  after  having  been  two  years 
in  possession  of  their  grade; 

The  ministers  of  the  departments; 

The  ambassadors  after  three  years',  and  the  min- 
isters plenipotentiaries  after  six  years'  exercise  of 
their  functions; 

The  councillors  of  state,  after  ten  years'  actual 
service ; 

The  prefects  of  the  departments  and  the  marine, 
after  ten  years'  stay  in  office; 

The  members  of  the  general  electoral  council,  after 
having  three  times  been  chosen  presidents ; 

The  mayors  of  cities  of  30,000  inhabitants  and 
more,  after  having  at  least  twice  been  chosen  mem- 
bers of  the  municipal  body,  and  five  years'  service 
of  office  as  mayor ; 

The  presidents  of  the  courts  of  cassation  and  pub- 
lic auditors; 

The  procurators-general  of  these  courts,  after  five 
years'  exercise  of  this  office  in  this  quality; 

The  councillors  of  the  court  of  cassation,  and  the 
superior  councillors  of  auditorship,  after  five  years', 
and  the  advocates-general,  after  ten  years'  exercise 
of  office ; 

The  first  presidents  of  the  royal  courts,  after  five 
years'  magistracy  in  these  courts  ; 

The  procurators-general  of  these  courts,  after  ten 
years'  exercise  of  office  ; 


LAW    OF    PEERAGE.  "1 

The  presidents  of  tribunals  of  commerce  of  cities 
of  30,000  inhabitants  and  more,  after  having  been 
four  times  nominated  to  this  office ; 

The  regular  members  of  the  four  academies  of 
the  institute; 

The  citizens  to  whom,  through  a  law,  and  in  con- 
sideration of  distinguished  services,  a  national  re- 
ward shall  be  granted; 

The  owners  of  real  estate,  the  principals  of  manu- 
factories, of  mercantile  and  banking  houses,  who  pay 
3000  francs  direct  taxes,  if,  in  consequence  of  their 
five  years'  patents,  they  have  been  for  six  years 
members  of  a  general  council,  or  of  a  chamber  of 
commerce ; 

The  owners  of  real  estate,  manufacturers,  mer- 
chants or  bankers,  who  pay  3000  francs  taxes,  and 
officiate  either  as  deputies  or  judges  in  tribunals  of 
commerce,  may  be  appointed  peers  without  any  fur- 
ther condition; 

Officers,  who  exercised  successively  several  of  the 
just  mentioned  functions,  may  count  their  services 
into  one,  in  order  to  complete  the  time  at  an  office 
of  which  a  longer  service  is  required. 

Those  citizens  are  exempted  from  the  time  of  ex- 
ercise of  offices  required  in  §§  5,  7,  8,  9,  10,  14,  15, 
16,  and  17,  who  have  been  appointed  to  the  offices 
mentioned  in  these  sections,  in  the  year  following  the 
30th  of  July,  1830; 

Likewise  are,  till  the  1st  of  January,  1837,  those 
exempted  from  the  time  of  service  in  offices  men- 
tioned in  §§  3,  11,  12,  18,  and  21,  who  have,  since 
the  30th  of  July,  1830,  been  appointed,  or  have  been 


52  LAW   or    PEERAGE. 

admitted  to  tho  functions  mentioned  in  the  five  par- 
agraphs : 

These  requisitions  for  admissibility  to  peerage, 
may  be  modified  by  law  ; 

The  ordonnances  of  nomination  to  the  peerage 
shall  bo  personal  ; 

These  ordonnances  shall  mention  the  service  and 
titles,  on  which  the  nomination  is  based  ; 

The  number  of  peers  is  unlimited  ; 

Their  rank  is  granted  for  life,  and  is  not  transfer- 
able by  right  of  inheritance  ; 

Their  ranks  among  themselves  are  in  the  order  of 
their  nominations; 

No  salary,  no  pension,  and  no  donation  can,  in 
future,  be  connected  with  the  rank  of  peer. 

The  foregoing  law  having  been  discussed,  debated 
and  adopted  by  the  chambers  of  peers  and  deputies, 
and  having  been  sanctioned  by  us,  will  be  executed 
as  a  law  of  the  state.  We,  therefore,  command, 
etc. 

This  law  was  signed  by  the  king,  and  countersigned  by  the 
ministers. 

PERIER  and  BARTHE. 


CONSTITUTIONS 


FRANCE,    WHEN    A    REPUBLIC 


The  two  constitutions  of  France,  when  a  repub- 
lic, which  are  here  given  in  full,  may  serve  as  facts, 
from  which  inferences  may  be  drawn  as  to  some  of 
the  causes  which  operated  to  make  the  former  at- 
tempt at  establishing  permanently  a  republic  in 
France  to  fail  entirely.  We  shall  also  be  enabled, 
by  comparing  the  new  constitution  which  the  people 
will  now  adopt,  with  the  old  ones,  to  judge  of  the 
probable  result  and  success  of  this  new  effort. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  these  two  constitu- 
tions were  preceded  by  another  one,  of  September  3, 
1791,  to  which  Louis  XVrI.  gave  his  sanction.  The 
principal  features  of  it,  were  the  change  of  the  division 
of  the  kingdom  from  thirty-four  unequal  provinces, 
into  eighty-three  departments,  each  department  being 
again  divided  into  districts,  and  each  district  into 
cantons.  The  legislative  national  assembly  consisted 
of  only  one  chamber,  and  its  session  was  continual. 
The  number  of  representatives  was  fixed  at  745,  ex- 
5* 


54  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    PRANCE. 

elusive  of  those  granted  to  the  colonies;  they  were 
distributed  on  the  basis  of  territory^  population!  and 
direct  taxes.  Of  the  745,  217  were  assigned  for  the 
territory,  each  department  choosing  three  men,  but 
Paris  only  one.  To  the  population  249  representa- 
tives were  given  :  the  whole  population  of  the  king- 
dom being  divided  into  240  parts,  and  each  depart- 
ment choosing  as  many  representatives,  as  it  had 
such  parts/)f  population.  For  direct  taxation,  249 
representatives  were  chosen  ;  the  main  sum  of  the 
direct  taxes  of  the  kingdom  being  divided  into  249 
parts,  and  each  department  choosing  as  many  rep- 
resentatives, as  it  paid  such  parts  of  the  whole  con- 
tribution. 

The  representatives  were  chosen  for  two  years. 
Primary  assemblies  chose  electors,  and  these  the 
representatives.  The  qualifications  of  a  voter  were, 
to  be  a  Frenchman,  twenty-five  years  of  age.  paying 
a  tax  in  value  of  three  days'  labor,  a  domicile  in  the 
canton  for  at  least  one  year,  being  registered  on  the 
list  of  citizens,  and  not  being  a  servant  for  wages  in 
a  household. 

An  alien  might  be  naturalized  after  an  uninter- 
rupted domicile  of  five  years  in  the  kingdom,  if  he 
besides  held  real  estate,  or  had  married  a  French 
woman,  or  established  a  trade,  and  taken  the  oath 
of  a  citizen. 

The  king  was  the  chief  executive,  and  his  person 
sacred  and  inviolable. 

The  legislative  body  had  the  exclusive  right  to 
propose  laws  and  establish  them ;  the  king  had  the 
right  of  veto,  which  merely  suspended  the  law.  It 
was  to  have  full  force  without  the  sanction  of  the 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

king,  if  afterwards  two  successive  legislatures  passed 
the  same  law. 

The  court  of  cassation  was  also  established,  which 
has  been  retained  to  the  present  day ;  the  nature  of 
which  will  be  seen  from  the  constitutions  here 
given. 

The  events  which  immediately  followed  are  too 
well  known  to  be  here  recited.  The  new  national 
convention,  which  convened  on  21st  September, 
[17921  declared  France  to  be  a  republic.  After  the 
execution  of  Louis  XVI.  (21st  January,  1793). 
Robespierre  stood  at  the  head  of  the  republic  till 
his  fall  (28th  July,  1794),  and  through  him  and  his 
party  the  second  constitution,  of  June  24th,  1793. 
was  made.  This  is  here  given  together  with  the 
one  which  was  adopted  in  1795,  and  remained  in 
force  till  13th  of  December,  1799,  when  the  fourth 
constitution  was  established,  and  Napoleon  was 
made  consul. 

It  is  not  within  the  plan  of  the  present  pages,  to 
discuss  the  merits  and  demerits  of  these  constitu- 
tions, but  we  merely  wish  to  furnish  every  one  with 
the  means  to  judge  for  himself.  We  would,  how- 
ever, call  attention  to  one  fatal  characteristic  in  them, 
which  deserves  so  much  the  more  to  be  noticed,  be- 
cause there  are  at  present  indications  in  France, 
which  may  lead  us  to  fear,  that  this  same  feature 
may  be  introduced  into  the  new  government  ami 
fundamental  law  now  in  progress  of  being  estab- 
lished, to  a  much  greater  and  more  alarming  extent. 
This  characteristic  and  fault,  as  we  deem  it  to  be,  is 
the  centralization  of  power  in  the  general  govern- 
ment.    In  comparing  France  with  our  own  country. 


56  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

the  I  Ihited  States,  we  perceive  al  once  a  striking  con- 
trast in  this  particular.  In  the  United  States,  the 
administration  is  so  distributed,  that  the  power  of 
the  general  government  of  a  state  is  hardly  felt 
The  comities  and  towns  seem  to  be  almost  as  inde- 
pendent and  sovereign  as  the  single  States  are,  in 
relation  to  the  federal  government.  Thus  the  local 
administration  of  each  section  of  the  country  can 
adapt  itself  to  the  peculiar  local  habits,  manners  and 
wants  of  its  citizens. 

'To  effect  a  similar  harmonious  distribution  of 
power,  without  weakening  the  general  government, 
would  be,  in  our  opinion,  the  great  problem  for 
France  to  solve  at  the  present  day.  From  present 
appearances,  however,  the  tendency  to  centralization 
seems  to  be  fearfully  progressive.  The  attempted 
movement  of  giving  to  government  even  the  power 
of  regulating  and  providing  labor  for  the  people, 
gives  to  government  the  power  of  exercising  a  ty- 
ranny, which  may  exceed  all  other  in  kind  and  se- 
verity. 

The  people  of  the  European  states  have  yet  to 
learn  to  live  independently  of  the  government.  Here- 
tofore the  governments  have  undertaken  to  regulate 
all  affairs,  even  to  the  smallest  details  in  private  life. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  people,  whenever  any  distress 
befalls  them,  look  to  their  government  for  a  remedy. 
It  will  be  some  time  before  the  mass  of  the  people 
learn,  that  the  sole  purpose  and  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment is,  to  protect  the  citizens  in  their  personal  liberty 
and  in  their  property,  and  that  any  thing  beyond  this, 
is  of  evil.  The  words  spoken  by  a  statesman  of  our 
own  country,  at  the  time  when  he  held  the  highest 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  57 

office  of  the  land,  and  when  expectations  of  relief  by 
the  federal  government  were  entertained  by  many, 
in  times  of  commercial  distress,  "  that  the  govern- 
ment will  take  care  of  itself,  and  that  the  people  must 
take  care  of  themselves,"  were  words  of  true  wisdom, 
if  rightly  understood. 

The  great  idea  of  a  republican  democratic  govern- 
ment is,  to  allow  each  individual  to  stand  free  and 
independent  by  himself,  without  being  trammelled 
or  hindered  or  influenced  in  any  manner,  by  any 
power  of  state.  Each  citizen  expects  from  govern- 
ment only  one  and  the  same  aid,  namely,  to  be  pro- 
tected in  the  free  exercise  of  his  individual  exertions 
for  his  happiness. 


CONSTITUTION 

OF    THE    TWENTY-FOURTH    OF    JUNE,    1793. 
DECLARATION  OF  THE  RIGHTS  OF  MAN  AND  OF  CITIZENS. 

The  French  people,  convinced  that  oblivion  and 
contempt  of  the  natural  rights  of  man  are  the  only 
causes  of  calamities  in  the  world,  has  resolved  to 
explain  these  sacred  and  inalienable  rights  in  a  solemn 
declaration,  that  all  citizens,  by  comparing  always 
the  acts  of  the  government  with  the  whole  social 
union,  may  never  suffer  themselves  to  be  oppressed 
and  dishonored  by  tyranny  ;  that  the  people  may 
always  have  before  its  eyes  the  fundamental  pillars 
of  its  liberty  and  welfare,  and  the  authorities  the 
standard  of  their  duties,  and  the  legislator  the  object 
of  his  problem. 


58  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

It  accordingly  makes,  in  the  presence  of  the  High- 
est Being,  the  following  declaration  of  the  rights  of 
man  and  of  the  citizens. 

1.  The  object  of  society  is  the  general  welfare. 
Government  is  instituted,  to  insure  to  man  the  free 
use  of  his  natural  and  inalicnahle  rights. 

2.  These  rights  arc  equality,  liberty,  security, 
property. 

3.  All  men  are  equal  by  nature  and  before  the  law. 

4.  Law  is  the  free  and  solemn  proclamation  of  the 
general  will;  it  is  the  same  for  all,  be  it  protective  or 
penal ;  it  can  command  only  what  is  just  and  bene- 
ficial to  society,  and  prohibit  only  what  is  injurious 
to  the  same. 

5.  All  citizens  are  equally  admissible  to  all  public 
offices.  Free  nations  are  in  their  elections  guided  by 
no  other  considerations  than  virtues  and  talents. 

6.  Freedom  is  the  power,  by  which  man  can  do 
what  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  another ; 
its  basis  is  nature,  its  standard  is  justice;  its  protec- 
tion is  law;  its  moral  boundary  is  the  maxim  :  Do 
not  unto  others  what  you  do  not  wish  they  should  do 
unto  you. 

7.  The  right  of  communicating  thoughts  and 
opinions,  either  through  the  press,  or  in  any  other 
manner ;  the  right  of  assembling  peaceably  ;  the  free 
exercise  of  religion,  cannot  be  prohibited. 

The  necessity  publicly  to  claim  these  rights,  pre- 
supposes the  autual  existence  of  despotism,  or  the 
fresh  recollection  of  the  same. 

8.  Security  rests  on  the  protection  given  by  society 
to  each  of  its  members,  for  the  preservation  of  his 
person,  his  rights  and  his  property. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  59 

9.  Law  must  protect  the  general  and  the  individual 
liberty  against  the  oppression  of  those  who  govern. 

10.  No  one  can  be  accused,  arrested  or  kept  in 
close  custody,  except  in  the  cases  specified  by  law, 
and  according  to  the  prescribed  forms ;  every  citizen 
who,  by  virtue  of  the  law,  is  summoned  before  court 
or  arrested,  must  immediately  obey ;  every  refusal 
shows  him  to  be  guilty. 

11.  Every  order  against  a  person,  in  cases  and 
forms  not  specified  by  law,  is  arbitrary  and  tyranni- 
cal ;  the  person  against  whom  such  an  order  should 
be  executed  by  force,  has  the  right  to  resist  it  by 
force. 

12.  Those  who  cause,  aid  in,  sign,  execute  or 
cause  to  be  executed  such  arbitrary  acts,  are  culpa- 
ble, and  must  be  punished. 

13.  Since  every  man  is  deemed  to  be  innocent, 
until  he  be  proved  guilty,  if  his  condemnation  will 
necessarily  lead  to  arrest,  every  severity,  not  required 
for  the  forthcoming  of  his  person,  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited. 

14.  Only  he  who  has  been  first  heard  or  legally 
summoned,  can  be  condemned  and  punished,  and 
this  only  by  a  law  promulgated  before  the  commis- 
sion of  the  crime.  A  law  which  would  punish  trans- 
gressions, committed  before  its  publication,  would  be 
tyranny  ;  and  it  would  be  a  crime  to  give  retrospec- 
tive force  to  law. 

15.  Law  shall  order  punishments  only  which  are 
unavoidably  necessary ;  the  punishments  shall  be 
suitable  to  the  crime,  and  beneficial  to  society. 

16.  The  right  of  property  is  that  by  which  every 
citizen  can  enjoy  his  goods  and  his  income,  the  fruits 


1. 


t')ll  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FKANCE. 

of  his  labor  and  industry.  and  dispose  of  them  at 
pleasure. 

17.  No  kind  of  occupation,  employment  and  trade 
can  lir  prohibited  t'>  citizens. 

18.  Every  one  may  dispose  of  his  services  and 
time  at  pleasure  :  but  he  can  neither  sell  himself  nor 
be  sold.  His  person  is  an  inalienable  property.  The 
law  does  not  recognise  a  state  of  servitude  ;  an  agree- 
ment only  for  services  rendered  and  a  compensation 
for  them,  can  exist  between  him  who  labors  and  him 
who  employs  him. 

19.  Without  his  consent,  no  one  can  be  deprived 
of  the  least  part  of  his  property,  unless  it  be  required 
by  a  general  and  legally  specified  necessity,  and  then 
only  on  condition  of  a  just  and  previously  fixed  in- 
demnity. 

20.  No  tax  can  be  laid  except  for  the  common 
welfare.  All  citizens  have  the  right  to  have  a  voice 
in  the  laying  of  taxes,  to  watch  over  the  application 
of  them,  and  to  have  an  account  rendered  thereof. 

21.  The  public  support  of  the  poor  is  a  sacred 
obligation.  Society  takes  upon  itself  the  support  of 
needy  citizens,  either  by  giving  work  to  them,  or  by 
giving  subsistence  to  those  who  are  unable  to 
work. 

22.  Instruction  is  a  want  for  all.  Society  shall 
further  with  all  its  power  the  progress  of  the  public 
welfare,  and  regulate  instruction  according  to  the 
wants  of  all  citizens. 

23.  Social  guarantee  rests  on  the  activity  of  all  to 
secure  to  each  one  the  enjoyment  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  rights.  This  guarantee  rests  on  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  people. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  61 

24.  It  cannot  exist,  if  the  boundaries  of  public  ad- 
ministration be  not  definitely  specified  by  law,  and 
unless   the   responsibility   of  all   public   oflicers   be  ^ 
secured. 

25.  Sovereignty  belongs  to  the  people.  It  is  one 
and  indivisible,  imprescriptible  and  inalienable. 

26.  No  single  part  of  the  people  can  exercise  tin 
power  of  the  whole  people ;  but  every  assembled 
section  of  the  sovereign  people  enjoys  the  right  to 
express  its  will  with  perfect  freedom. 

27.  Every  individual  who  would  assume  the 
sovereignty  shall  be  at  once  condemned  to  death  by 
the  free  men. 

28.  The  people  have  the  right  to  revise,  amend     <fi 
and  alter  their  constitution.     One  generation  cannot  J     yL. 
bind  succeeding  generations  to  its  laws. 

29.  Every  citizen  has  the  right  of  taking  part  in 
the  legislation,  and  of  appointing  his  representatives 
or  agents. 

30.  Public  authorities  are  in  their  nature  tempora- 
ry; they  cannot  be  considered  as  distinctions,  nor  as 
rewards,  but  as  obligations. 

31.  The  offences  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people  and  of  its  agents,  shall  not  be  unpunished 
No  one  has  the  right  to  hold  himself  more  inviolable 
than  the  other  citizens. 

32.  The  right  of  presenting  petitions  to  the  public 
authorities  can  in  no  case  be  interdicted,  abolished  or 
limited. 

33.  Resistance  to  oppression  is  the  inference  from 
the  other  rights  of  man. 

34.  It  is  oppression  of  the  whole  society,  if  but 
one  of  its  members  be  oppressed.    Oppression  of every 

6 


62  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

single  member  exists,  when  the   whole  of  society  is 
oppressed. 

35.  When  government  violates  the  rights  of  the 
people,  insurrection  of  the  people;  and  of  every  single 
part  of  it,  is  the  most  sacred  of  its  rights  and  the 
highest  of  its  duties. 

(Signed)  COLLOT  D'HERBOIS,  President. 

Durand  Maillane,  Ducos,   Meaulle, 
Charles  de  la  Cr«ix,  Gossuin,  P.  A.  Laloy, 

Secretaries. 


CONSTITUTION 

OF   THE    TWENTT-FOURTH   OF    JUNE,   1793. 
OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

1.  The  French  Republic  is  one  and  indivisible. 

OF    THE    DIVISION  OF    THE    PEOPLE. 

2.  The  French  people  is,  for  the  purpose  of  exer- 
cising its  sovereignty,  divided  into  primary  assem- 
blies according  to  cantons. 

3.  For  the  purpose  of  administration  and  justice, 
it  is  divided  into  departments,  districts  and  muni- 
cipalities. 

OF    THE    RIGHT    OF    CITIZENSHIP. 

4.  Every  man  born  and  living  in  France,  of  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  every  alien,  who  has  attained 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  63 

the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  has  been  domiciled  in 
France  one  year,  and  lives  from  his  labor; 

or  has  acquired  property ; 

or  has  married  a  French  woman  ; 

or  has  adopted  a  child  ; 

or  supports  an  aged  man  ; 
and  finally  every  alien  whom  the  legislative  body 
has  declared  as  one  well  deserving  of  the  human  race, 
are  admitted  to  exercise  the  rights  of  a  French  citizen. 

5.  The  right  of  exercising  the  rights  of  citizen  is 
lost : 

by  being  naturalized  in  a  foreign  state ; 

by  accepting  offices  of  state,  or  favors  which  do 

not  proceed  from  a  democratic  government ; 
by  being  sentenced  to  dishonorable  or  corporal 

punishments,  till  reinstated  in  the  former  state. 

6.  The  exercise  of  the  rights  of  citizens  is  sus- 
pended : 

by  being  in  a  state  of  accusation  ; 
by  a  sentence  in  contumaciam,  so  long  as  this 
sentence  has  not  been  rescinded. 

OF  THE  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

7.  The  sovereign  people  embraces  the  whole  of 
French  citizens. 

8.  It  chooses  its  deputies  directly. 

9.  It  transfers  upon  electors  the  election  of  admin - 
trators,  public  civil  judges,  penal  judges,  and  judges 
of  cassation. 

10.  It  deliberates  on  laws. 

OF    THE    PRIMARY    ASSEMBLIES. 

11.  The  primary  assemblies  are  formed  of  the 


64  CONSTITUTIONS    "1     m;  ■ 

citizens    who    have    resided   six    months  in   a  can- 
ton. 

12.  They  consist  of  no  less  than  200  and  no  more 
than  600  citizens,  called  together  for  the  purpose  of 
voting. 

13.  They  are  organized,  after  a  president,  secreta- 
ries and  collectors  of  votes  have  been  appointed. 

14.  They  exercise  their  own  police. 

15.  No  one  is  allowed  to  appear  there  with  arms. 

16.  The  elections  are  made  either  by  secret  or  loud 
voting,  at  the  pleasure  of  each  voter. 

17.  A  primary  meeting  can  in  no  case  prescribe 
more  than  one  manner  of  voting. 

18.  The  collectors  of  votes  note  down  the  votes  of 
those  citizens  who  cannot  write,  and  yet  prefer  to 
vote  secretly. 

19.  The  votes  on  laws  are  given  by  "Yes"  and 
"No." 

20.  The  elections  of  primary  assemblies  are  pub- 
lished in  the  following  manner  : 

The  united  citizens  in  the  primary  asssembly  at 

,  number  in  g votes,  vote  for,  or  vote  against, 

by  a  majority  of , 


OF    THE    NATIONAL    REPRESENTATION. 

21 .  Population  is  the  only  basis  of  national  repre- 
sentation. 

22.  For  every  40,000  individuals,  one  deputy  is 
chosen. 

23.  Every  primary  assembly  which  is  formed  of 
from  39,000  to  41,000  individuals,  chooses  directly 
a  deputy. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  05 

24.  The  choice  is  effected  by  an  absolute  majority 
of  votes. 

25.  Every  assembly  makes  an  abstract  of  the  votes, 
and  sends  a  commissioner  to  the  appointed  central 
place  of  general  record. 

26.  If  at  the  first  voting,  no  absolute  majority  be 
effected,  a  second  meeting  shall  be  held,  and  those 
two  citizens  who  had  tire  most  votes,  shall  be  voted 
for  again. 

27.  In  case  of  an  equal  division  of  votes,  the  oldest 
person  has  the  preference,  no  matter  whether  he  was 
voted  for,  or  whether  he  was  chosen  without  it.  In 
case  of  an  equality  of  age,  the  casting  of  lots  shall 
decide. 

28.  Every  Frenchman,  who  enjoys  the  rights  of  a 
citizen,  is  eligible  throughout  the  whole  republic. 

29.  Every  deputy  belongs  to  the  whole  nation. 

30.  In  case  of  non-acceptance,  of  abdication,  or 
expiration  of  office,  or  of  the  death  of  a  deputy,  the 
primary  assembly  which  had  chosen  him  shall 
choose  a  substitute. 

31 .  A  deputy  who  hands  in  his  resignation,  can- 
not leave  his  post  till  his  successor  shall  have  been 
appointed. 

32.  The  French  people  assembles  every  year  on 
the  1st  of  May  for  election. 

33.  It  assembles,  whatever  the  number  of  citizens 
may  be,  who  have  a  right  to  vote. 

34.  Extraordinary  primary  meetings  are  held  at 
the  demand  of  one  fifth  of  the  eligible  citizens. 

35.  The  meeting  is,  in  this  case,  called  by  the 
municipal  authority  of  the  usual  place  of  assembly. 

36.  These    extraordinary   meetings  can   transact 

6* 


66  CON8T1TOTION8    OF   FRANCE. 

business  only  when  at  least  <>ne  more  than  one  hall 
of  the  qualified  voters  are  present. 

OF    THE    ELECTORAL    ASSEMBLIES. 

37.  The  citizens,  united  in  primary  assemblies, 
nominate  in  proportion  of  200  citizens,  (they  may  be 
present  or  not,)  one  elector;  two,  for  from  301  to 
400;  three,  for  from  501  to  600. 

38.  The  holding  of  election  meetings,  and  the 
manner  of  election,  are  the  same  as  in  the  primary 
meetings. 

OF    THE    LEGISLATIVE    BODY. 

39.  The  legislative  body  is  one,  indivisible  and 
continual. 

40.  Its  session  lasts  one  year. 

41.  It  assembles  on  the  1st  of  July. 

42.  The  national  assembly  cannot  be  organized, 
unless  at  least  one  more  than  one  half  of  the  deputies 
are  present. 

43.  The  deputies  can,  at  no  time,  be  held  answer- 
able, accused  or  condemned  on  account  of  opinions 
uttered  within  the  legislative  body. 

44.  In  criminal  cases,  they  may  be  arrested  if 
caught  in  the  act ;  but  the  warrant  of  arrest  and  the 
warrant  of  committal  can  be  issued  only  by  the  leg- 
islative body. 

MODE    OF    PROCEDURE    OF    THE    LEGISLATIVE    BODY. 

45.  The  sessions  of  the  national  assembly  are 
public. 

46.  The  debates  in  their  sessions  shall  be  printed. 


CONSTITUTIONS   OF   FRANCE.  67 

47.  It  cannot  deliberate,  unless  it  consist  of  200 
members. 

48.  It  cannot  refuse  to  members  the  floor,  in  the 
order  in  which  they  demand  the  same. 

49.  It  decides  by  a  majority  of  those  present. 

50.  Fifty  members  have  the  right  to  demand  a 
call  by  names. 

51.  It  has  the  right  of  censorship  on  the  conduct 
of  the  members  in  their  midst. 

52.  It  exercises  the  power  of  police  at  the  place  of 
their  sessions,  and  within  the  whole  extent  of  its 
environs. 


OF    THE    FUNCTIONS    OF    THE    LEGISLATIVE    BODY. 

53.  The  legislative  body  proposes  laws,  and  issues 
decrees. 

54.  By  the  general  name  of  law,  are  understood 
the  provisions  of  the  legislative  body  which  concern  : 

the  civil  and  penal  legislation  ; 

the  general  administration  of  revenues  and  of 
the  ordinary  expenditures  of  the  republic; 

the  national  domains; 

the  inscription,  alloy,  stamp  and  names  of  coins; 

declaration  of  war ; 

every  new  general  division  of  the  French  terri- 
tory; 

public  instruction; 

public  demonstrations  of  honor  to  the  memory 
of  great  men. 

55.  By  the  particular  name  of  decrees  are  under- 
stood those  enactments  of  the  legislative  body,  which 
concern : 


08  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

the  annual  establishment  of 'the  land  and  marine 
forces ; 

the  permission  or  refusal  of  the  marching  of 
foreign  troops  through  the  French  territory; 

the  admission  of  foreign  vessels  of  war  into  the 
ports  of  the  republic  ; 

the  measures  for  the  common  peace  and  safety ; 

the  distribution  of  the  annual  and  momentary 
relief  and  of  public  business ; 

the  orders  for  the  stamping  of  coins  of  every 
description ; 

the  unforeseen  and  extraordinary  expenses ; 

the  local  and  particular  orders  for  an  adminis- 
tration, a  commune,  and  any  kind  of  public 
business ; 

the  defence  of  the  territory ; 

the  ratification  of  treaties ; 

the  nomination  and  removal  of  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army  ; 

the  carrying  into  effect  the  responsibility  of 
members  of  the  executive  council,  and  of 
public  officers ; 

the  accusation  of  discovered  conspiracies  against 
the  common  safety  of  the  republic  ; 

every  alteration  in  the  division  of  the  French 
territory ; 

the  national  rewards. 


OF    THE    MAKING    OF    LAWS. 

56.  A  notice  must  precede  the  introduction  of  a 
bill. 

57.  Not  till  after  a  fortnight  from  the  giving  of 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  69 

notice  can  the  debate  begin,  and  the  law  be  tempora- 
rily accepted. 

58.  The  proposed  law  is  printed  and  sent  to  all 
the  communes  of  the  republic,  under  the  address  of, 
Proposed  law. 

59.  If,  forty  days  after  the  sending  in  of  the  pro- 
posed law,  of  the  absolute  majority  of  departments, 
one  tenth  of  all  the  primary  meetings,  legally  as- 
sembled by  the  departments,  have  not  protested,  the 
bill  is  accepted  and  becomes  a  law. 

GO.  If  protest  be  made,  the  legislative  body  calls 
together  the  primary  meetings. 

ON  THE  SUPERSCRIPTION  OF  LAWS  AND  DECREES. 

61.  The  laws,  decrees,  sentences,  and  all  public 
transactions  are  superscribed  : 

In  the  name  of  the  French  people,  in  the year 

of  the  French  Republic. 

OF    THE    EXECUTIVE    POWER. 

62.  There  shall  bean  executive  council,  consisting 
of  twenty-four  members. 

63.  The  electoral  assembly  of  each  department 
nominates  a  candidate.  The  legislative  body  chooses 
from  this  general  list  the  members  of  the  executive 
council. 

64.  It  shall  be  renewed  each  half  session  of 
every  legislature,  in  the  last  months  of  its  ses- 
sion. 

65.  The  executive  council  has  the  management 
and  supervision  of  the  general  administration.     Its 


70  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

activity  is  limited  to  the  execution  of  laws  and  de- 
crees of  the  legislative  body. 

66.  It  appoints,  but  not  out  of  its  midst,  the  highest 

agents  of  the  general  administration  of  the  republic. 

67.  The  legislative  body  establishes  the  number 
,  of  these  agents,  and  their  business. 

68.  These  agents  form  no  council.  They  are 
separated  one  from  the  other,  and  have  no  relation 
among  themselves.  They  exercise  no  personal 
power. 

69.  The  executive  council  chooses,  but  not  from 
its  midst,  the  foreign  agents  of  the  republic. 

70.  It  negotiates  treaties. 

71.  The  members  of  the  executive  council,  are,  in 
case  of  violation  of  duties,  acccused  by  the  legisla- 
tive body. 

72.  The  executive  council  is  responsible  for  the 
non-execution  of  the  laws  and  decrees,  and  the 
abuses,  of  which  it  does  not  give  notice. 

73.  It  recalls  and  substitutes  the  agents  at  pleas- 
ure. 

74.  It  is  obliged,  if  possible,  to  inform  the  judicial 
authorities  regarding  them. 

OF    THE    MUTUAL    RELATIONS    BETWEEN    THE    EXECUTIVE 
COUNCIL    AND    THE    LEGISLATIVE    BODY. 

75.  The  executive  council  shall  have  its  seat  near 
the  legislative  body.  It  shall  have  admittance  to, 
and  a  special  seat  at,  the  place  of  session. 

76.  It  shall  every  time  be  heard,  when  it  shall 
have  to  give  account. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  71 

77.  The  legislative  body  shall  call  it  into  its  midst, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  when  it  is  thought  necessary. 

OF    THE    ADMINISTRATIVE    AUTHORITIES     AND    THE    MUNICI- 
PALITIES. 

78.  There  shall  be  a  municipal  authority  in  each 
commune  of  the  republic ;  and  in  each  district  an 
intermediate  administration;  and  in  each  department 
a  central  administration. 

79.  The  municipal  officers  are  chosen  by  the  as- 
semblies of  the  commune. 

80.  The  administrators  are  chosen  by  the  electoral 
assemblies  of  the  departments  and  of  the  district. 

81.  The  municipalities  and  the  administrative  au- 
thorities are  annually  renewed  one  half. 

82.  The  administrative  authorities  and  municipal 
officers  have  not  a  representative  character.  They 
can,  in  no  case,  limit  the  resolves  of  the  legislative 
body,  nor  the  execution  of  them. 

83.  The  legislative  body  assigns  the  business  of 
the  municipal  officers  and  of  the  administrative  au- 
thorities, the  rules  regarding  their  subordination,  and 
the  punishments  to  which  they  may  become  liable. 

84.  The  sessions  of  the  municipalities  and  of  the 
administrative  authorities  are  held  in  public. 

OF    CIVIL    JUSTICE. 

85.  The  civil  and  penal  code  is  the  same  for  the 
whole  republic. 

86.  No  encroachment  can  be  made  upon  the  right 
of  citizens,  to  have  their  matters  in  dispute  decided 
on  by  arbitrators  of  their  own  choice. 


72  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    li:.W<  I.. 

87.  The  decision  of  these  arbitrators  is  final,  unit  ss 
the  citizens  have  reserved  the  right  of  protesting. 

88.  There  shall  be  justices  of  the  peace,  chosen  by 
the  citizens  of  the  districts,  appointed  by  law. 

89.  They  shall  conciliate  and  hold  court  without 
fees. 

90.  Their  number  and  extent  of  power  shall  be 
established  by  the  legislative  body. 

91.  There  shall  be  public  judges  of  arbitration, 
who  are  chosen  by  electoral  assemblies. 

92.  Their  number  and  districts  are  fixed  by  the 
legislative  body. 

93.  They  shall   decide  on  matters  in  controversy 
which  have  not  been  brought  to  a  final  decision  by 
private  arbitrators  or  by  the  justices  of  the  peace. 

94.  They  shall  deliberate  publicly. 
They  shall  vote  with  loud  voice. 

They  decide  in  the  last  resort  on  oral  pleadings. 
or  on  a  simple  petition,  without  legal  forms  and 
without  cost. 

They  shall  assign  the  reasons  of  their  decisions. 

95.  The  justices  of  the  peace  and  the  public  arbi- 
trators are  chosen  annually. 

OF    CRIMINAL    JUSTICE. 

96.  In  criminal  cases,  no  citizen  can  be  put  on 
trial,  except  a  true  bill  of  complaint  be  found  by  a 
jury,  or  by  the  legislative  body. 

The  accused  shall  have  advocates,  either  chosen 
by  themselves,  or  appointed  officially. 

The  proceedings  are  in  public. 

The  state  of  facts  and  the  intention  are  passed 
upon  by  a  jury. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  73 

The  punishment  is  executed  by  a  criminal  au- 
thority. 

97.  The  criminal  judges  are  chosen  annually  by 
the  electoral  assemblies. 

OF    THE    COURT    OF    CASSATION. 

98.  There  is  a  court  of  cassation  for  the  whole 
republic. 

99.  This  court  takes  no  cognizance  of  the  state  of 
facts. 

It  decides  on  the  violation  of  matters  of  form,  and 
on  transgressions  expressed  by  law. 

100.  The  members  of  this  court  are  appointed  an- 
nually through  the  electoral  assemblies. 

OF    THE    GENERAL    TAXES. 

101.  No  citizen  is  excluded  from  the  honorable 
obligation  to  contribute  towards  the  public  expenses. 

OF    THE    NATIONAL    TREASURY. 

102.  The  national  treasury  is  the  central  point  of 
the  revenues  and  expenses  of  the  republic. 

103.  It  is  managed  by  public  accountants,  whom 
the  legislative  body  shall  elect. 

104.  It  is  managed  by  officers  of  account,  whom 
the  legislative  body  shall  elect,  but  who  cannot  be 
taken  from  their  own  body  :  they  are  responsible  for 
abuses  of  which  they  do  not  give  legal  notice  to  the 
courts. 

OF    THE    RENDITION    OF     ACCOUNTS. 

105.  The  accounts  of  the  agents  of  the  national 


',   1  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    11:  W  B. 

treasury,  and  those  of  the  administrators  of  public 

moneys  arc  taken  annually,  by  responsible  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  executive  council. 

106.  Those  persons  appointed  to  revise  the  ac- 
counts arc  under  the  supervision  of  commissioners, 
who  arc  elected  by  the  legislative  body  not  out  "t 
their  own  number;  and  they  are  responsible  for  the 
frauds  and  mistakes  of  accounts,  of  which  they  do 
not  give  notice. 

The  legislative  body  preserves  the  accounts. 

OF    THE    MILITARY    FORCES    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

107.  The  general  military  power  of  the  republic 
consists  of  the  whole  people. 

108.  The  republic  supports,  also,  in  times  of  peace, 
a  paid  land  and  marine  force. 

109.  All  Frenchmen  are  soldiers ;  all  shall  be  ex- 
ercised in  the  use  of  arms. 

110.  There  is  no  generalissimo. 

111.  The  distinction  of  grade,  the  military  marks 
of  distinction  and  subordination,  exist  only  in  service 
and  in  time  of  its  duration. 

112.  The  general  military  force  is  used  for  the 
preservation  of  order  and  peace  in  the  interior :  it 
acts  only  on  a  written  requisition  of  the  constituted 
authorities. 

113.  The  general  military  force  against  foreign 
enemies  is  under  the  command  of  the  executive 
council. 

114.  No  armed  body  can  deliberate. 

OF    THE    NATIONAL    CONVENTION. 

115.  If  of  the  absolute  majority  of  departments, 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  75 

the  tenth  part  of  their  regularly  formed  primary 
assemblies  demand  a  revision  of  the  constitution,  or 
an  alteration  of  some  of  its  articles ;  the  legislative 
body  is  obliged  to  call  together  all  primary  assem- 
blies of  the  republic,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  a 
national  convention  shall  be  called. 

116.  The  national  convention  is  formed  in  like 
manner  as  the  legislatures,  and  unites  in  itself  the 
highest  power. 

117.  It  is  occupied,  as  regards  the  constitution, 
only  with  those  subjects  which  caused  its  being 
called  together. 

OF  THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  FRENCH  REPUBLIC  TOWARDS 
FOREIGN  NATIONS. 

118.  The  French  nation  is  the  friend  and  natural 
ally  of  free  nations. 

119.  It  does  not  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  gov- 
ernment of  other  nations.  It  suffers  no  interference 
of  other  nations  with  its  own. 

120.  It  serves  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  all  who,  on 
account  of  liberty,  are  banished  from  their  native 
country. 

These  it  refuses  to  deliver  up  to  tyrants. 

121.  It  concludes  no  peace  with  an  enemy  that 
holds  possession  of  its  territory. 

OF    THE    GUARANTY    OF    RIGHTS. 

122.  The  constitution  guarantees  to  all  Frenchmen 
equality,  liberty,  security,  property,  the  public  debt, 
free  exercise  of  religion,  general  instruction,  public 
assistance,  absolute  liberty  of  the  press,  the  right  of 


76  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    I'KA.V,  K. 

petition,   the  right  to  hold  popular  assemblies,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  all  rights  of  man. 

123.  The  French  republic  respects  loyalty,  cour- 
age, age,  filial  love,  misfortune.  It  places  the  consti- 
tution under  the  guaranty  of  all  virtues. 

121.  The  declaration  of  the  rights  of  man  and 
the  constitution  shall  be  engraven  on  tables,  to  be 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  legislative  body,  and  in 
public  places. 

(Signed)  COLLOT  D'HERBOIS,  President. 

Durand-Maillane,  Ducos,  Meaulle, 

Charles  de  la  Croix,  Gossuin,  P.  A.  Laloy , 

Secretaries. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    1795. 

This  constitution  was  again  suspended  on  the  13th 
of  August  following,  until  the  independence  of  the 
republic  should  have  been  recognised  by  the  powers 
with  which  France  was  then  at  war,  and  a  revo- 
lutionary government  was  instituted,  which  was  to 
last  till  peace  should  have  been  restored.  The  power 
which  the  national  convention  had  exercised,  was 
transferred  upon  the  committee  of  public  welfare, 
in  which  Robespierre  and  his  faction  ruled  with  ab- 
solute power,  until  he  himself  was  executed,  on  the 
28th  of  July,  1794. 

The  dissensions  of  factions,  however,  continued 
to  disturb  the  interior  of  the  country;  civil  war  raged 
in  the  Vendee,  and  the  war  with  foreign  powers  had 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  76 

not  been  terminated.  Some  states,  of  whom  Prussia 
was  one,  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  re- 
public in  1795.  A  new  constitution,  adapted  to  a 
republican  form  of  government,  was  now  demanded. 
A  commission  of  eleven  was  appointed  to  draft  and 
present  a  plan.  This  was  laid  before  the  national 
convention  on  the  23d  of  June,  1795.  by  Boissy- 
d'Anglas.  The  report,  which  was  read  by  him,  ex- 
pressed distinctly  his  views  regarding  a  representa- 
tive form  of  government  in  a  republic,  as  France. 

"If  the  citizens  themselves  cannot  exercise  the 
sovereignty  which  belongs  to  them  ;  if  they  can  gov- 
ern only  by  their  delegates ;  if,  even  when  less  numer- 
ous, they  cannot,  without  great  difficulty,  fulfil  the 
duty  of  making  laws ;  if  a  representative  form  of 
government  is  all  that  even  the  most  ardent  love  of 
liberty  can  ask  for  a  nation  of  twenty-five  millions 
of  people ;  it  follows,  that  this  form  of  government 
will  be  the  more  perfect,  the  oftener  the  elections  by 
the  people  are  the  immediate  work  of  the  same. 
Since  they  are  compelled  to  put  in  the  place  of  their 
immediate  will  a  supposed  will,  expressed  by  their 
representatives,  these  must  in  part  be  those  whom 
they  wish  to  elect.  The  mode  of  election,  adopted 
by  the  constitution  of  1791,  had  the  objectionable 
feature,  that  the  election  by  an  assembly  nominated 
by  the  people,  was  substituted  for  a  direct  election 
by  the  people.  We  thought  that  we  must  adopt  a 
different  mode  ;  we  must  leave  to  the  people  the 
right,  to  nominate  directly  their  legislators  and  mag- 
istrates. The  assemblies  of  electors  arc  in  danger  of 
being  surprised;  they  are  too  often  governed  by  the 
enthusiasm  which  an  orator  may  produce,  and  by 
7* 


78  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    PRANCE. 

the  influence  of  a  great  name,  and  by  every  impulse 
which  craftiness  knows  how  to  give.  The  objections 
are  removed,  if  the  primary  assemblies  alone  nomi- 
nate." 

These  were  the  views  of  the  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee, which  submitted  a  plan  of  a  constitution  in 
accordance  with  them.  Durand-Maillane,  one  of 
the  commission,  proposed  another  one  of  his  own, 
which  was,  however,  not  adopted,  but  the  one  pro- 
posed by  the  majority  of  the  commission  was  agreed 
to  by  the  assembly,  after  making  a  few  alterations. 
It  is  this  constitution  which  we  give  here  in  detail. 


THE     CONSTITUTION 

OF    THE    TWENTY-THIRD    OF    SEPTEMBER,     1795. 
DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  MAN  AND  OF  CITIZENS. 

The  French  people,  in  the  presence  of  the  Highest 
Being,  proclaims  the  following  declaration  of  the 
rights  and  duties  of  man  and  of  citizens. 

RIGHTS. 

Art.  1.  The  rights  of  man  in  society  are — freedom ; 
equality;  security;  property. 

2.  Liberty  consists  in  being  allowed  to  do  what 
does  not  injure  the  rights  of  another. 

3.  Equality  consists  in  the  laws  being  the  same 
for  all,  be  they  either  protective  or  penal. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  79 

4.  Security  flows  from  the  co-operation  of  all  to 
secure  to  each  his  rights. 

5.  Properly  is  the  right  to  enjoy  and  to  dispose  of 
one's  goods,  income,  fruit  of  labor,  and  industry. 

6.  Law  is  the  general  will  expressed  by  the  ma- 
jority cither  of  citizens  or  of  their  representatives. 

7.  What  is  not  prohibited  by  law,  cannot  be  for- 
bidden. No  one  can  be  compelled  to  do  what  the 
law  docs  not  command. 

8.  No  man  can  be  summoned  before  court,  accused, 
arrested  or  imprisoned,  except  in  cases  specified  by 
law  and  according  to  the  prescribed  forms. 

9.  Those  who  demand,  issue,  sign,  execute,  or 
cause  to  be  executed,  arbitrary  acts,  are  criminals, 
and  to  be  punished  as  such. 

10.  All  severity  which  is  not  necessary  to  secure 
the  person  of  one  accused,  shall  be  absolutely  prevent- 
ed by  law. 

11.  No  man  can  be  judged  until  he  be  heard  or 
legally  summoned. 

12.  The  law  ought  to  acknowledge  only  punish- 
ments which  are  strictly  necessary  and  appropriate 
to  the  crime. 

13.  Every  treatment  which  increases  the  punish- 
ment specified  by  law,  is  a  crime. 

14.  No  law,  be  it  penal  or  civil,  can  have  retro- 
spective force. 

15.  Every  man  may  dispose  of  his  time  and  ser- 
vices ;  but  he  can  neither  sell  himself,  nor  be  sold ; 
his  person  is  not  alienable  property. 

16.  Every  tax  is  laid  for  the  general  benefit;  it 
must  be  distributed  among  the  taxable  persons,  in 
proportion  to  their  property. 


SO  coNSTiTunowa  as  francs. 

17.  Sovereignty  abides  with  the  collective  mass  of 

all  citizens. 

18.  No  individual  and  no  separate  union  of  citizens 
can  claim  sovereignty. 

19.  No  man  can,  without  a  legal  transfer,  exercise 
any  power  or  hold  any  public  office. 

20.  Every  citizen  has  the  same  right,  directly  or 
indirectly,  to  co-operate  in  making  laws  and  appoint- 
ing public  officers. 

21.  The  public  offices  cannot  become  the  property 
of  those  who  fill  them. 

22.  There  can  be  no  security  of  society,  unless  the 
distribution  of  powers  be  established  and  their  limits 
be  defined,  and  the  responsibility  of  public  officers  be 
secured. 

DUTIES. 

Art.  1.  The  declaration  of  rights  contains  the  obli- 
gations of  legislators ;  the  preservation  of  society  re- 
quires that  those  who  constitute  the  same,  in  like 
manner  know  and  fulfil  their  duties. 

2.  All  duties  of  man  and  citizens  are  derived  from 
the  two  following  principles,  engraven  by  nature  in 
all  hearts : 

Do  not  unto  others  what  you  do  not  wish  they  should 
do  unto  you. 

Do  always  unto  others  all  the  good  which  you  wish 
they  should  do  unto  you. 

3.  The  obligations  of  every  man  towards  society 
consist,  in  defending  and  serving  the  same,  in  living 
obedient  to  its  laws,  and  in  respecting  those  who  are 
its  functionaries. 

4.  No  one  is  a  good  citizen,  unless  he  be  a  good 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  81 

son,  a  good  father,  a  good  brother,  a  good  friend,  and 
a  good  husband. 

5.  No  one  is  an  honest  man,  unless  he  observes  the 
laws  sincerely  and  conscientiously. 

6.  He  who  openly  violates  the  laws,  declares  him- 
self to  be  at  war  with  society. 

7.  He  who,  without  openly  violating  the  laws, 
circumvents  them  by  cunning  or  subtlety,  violates 
the  interests  of  all ;  he  renders  himself  unworthy  of 
their  good  will  and  respect. 

8.  On  the  'preservation  of  property  depend  agri- 
culture, all  products,  all  sources  of  labor,  and  the 
whole  social  order. 

9.  Every  citizen  owes  his  services  to  the  country, 
and  the  preservation  of  liberty,  equality  and  prop- 
erty, whenever  the  law  calls  upon  him  to  defend 
them. 


CONSTITUTION. 


Art.  1.  The  French  Republic  is  one  and  indi- 
visible. 

2.  The  collective  number  of  all  French  citizens  is 
the  sovereignty. 


TITLE    I. 
DIVISION    OF    THE    TERRITORY. 


3.  France  is   divided    into    departments.      These 
are .  [here  follow  the  names.] 

4.  The   boundaries  of   the  departments  may  be 
altered  or  rectified  by  the  legislative  body ;  but  the 


82  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

measurement  of  a  department  can  in  no  case  be 
more  than  100  square  myriamcters  (100  square  miles 
of  middle  size,  or  2666  toises). 

5.  Each  department  is  divided  into  cantons,  and 
each  canton  into  communes. 

6.  The  French  colonies  are  parts  of  the  republic, 
and  subject  to  the  same  constitution. 

7.  They  are   divided   into  departments,  viz.  

[here  follow  the  names.] 

TITLE    II. 
POLITICAL    CONDITION    OF    CITIZENS. 

8.  Every  person  born  and  residing  in  France,  that 
has  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  has 
his  name  recorded  in  the  register  of  citizens  of  his 
canton,  and  who  has  hereupon  lived  in  the  territory 
of  the  republic  one  year,  and  who  pays  a  direct  tax, 
either  on  personal  or  real  property,  is  a  French 
citizen. 

9.  Those  Frenchmen  who  have  fought  in  one  or 
more  campaigns  for  the  establishment  of  the  repub- 
lic, are  citizens  without  regard  being  had  to  taxes. 

10.  An  alien  becomes  a  French  citizen,  if,  after 
being  twenty-one  years  old,  he  has  declared  his  in- 
tention to  establish  himself  in  France,  and  has  re- 
sided there  for  seven  years  without  interruption,  and 
if  he  pays  a  direct  tax,  and  be,  moreover,  possessed 
of  real  estate,  or  carry  on  agriculture  or  a  trade,  or  if 
he  has  married  a  French  woman. 

11.  French  citizens  only  can  vote  in  the  primary 
assemblies,  and  be  appointed  to  the  offices  establish- 
ed by  the  constitution. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  83 

12.  The  right  of  the  exercise  of  the  rights  of  citi- 
zen is  lost  : 

1.  by  naturalization  in  a  foreign  country  ; 

2.  by   admission   into   any  foreign    corporation 

which  requires  distinction  by  birth,  or  religi- 
ous vows ; 

3.  by  accepting  offices  or  pensions  from  foreign 
governments ; 

4.  by  being  condemned  to  corporal  or  dishonora- 
ble punishments,  till  being  restored  to  the 
former  condition. 

13.  The  exercise  of  the  rights  of  citizens  is  sus- 
pended : 

1.  by  a  judicial  decree  on  account  of  insanity  or 
idiocy; 

when  a  person  is  bankrupt,  or  takes  of  his  own 
free  will,  as  immediate  heir,  the  whole  or  a 
part  of  an  insolvent  estate  of  a  deceased  per- 
son ; 

2.  by  being  a  servant  for  wages  in  the  employ- 

ment of  a  person  or  a  household ; 

3.  by  being  indicted  for  an  offence ; 

4.  by  a  judicial  condemnation  in  contumaciam, 

so  long  as  the  judgment  is  not  retracted. 

14.  The  exercise  of  the  rights  of  a  citizen  is  lost  or 
suspended  in  no  other  cases  but  those  enumerated  in 
the  two  preceding  articles. 

15.  Every  citizen  who  for  seven  years,  without 
intermission,  has  resided  out  of  the  territory  of  the 
republic  without  a  mission  or  authorization  in  the 
name  of  the  republic,  is  considered  as  an  alien ;  he 
cannot  become  again  a  citizen  without  complying 
with  the  requisitions  prescribed  in  Art.  10. 


84  CONSTITUTIONS    OP    FKAM  K. 

16.  Young  men  cannot  be  inserted  in  the  register 
of  citizens,  if  they  cannot  prove  that  they  can  read 
and  write,  and  understand  a  mechanical  trade. 

The  works  of  agriculture  are  comprehended  under 
the  mechanical  trades. 

This  article  shall  be  enforced  only  from  the  twelfth 
year  of  the  republic. 

TITLE    III. 
PRIMARY    ASSEMBLIES. 

17.  The  primary  assemblies  consist  of  the  citizens 
residing  in  one  canton. 

The  qualification  for  voting  in  these  assemblies  is 
acquired  by  one  year's  residence,  and  lost  by  one 
year's  absence. 

18.  No  one  can  be  represented  by  another  in  these 
primary  assemblies,  or  vote  on  the  same  subject  in 
more  than  one  of  these  assemblies. 

19.  There  is  at  least  one  primary  assembly  in 
each  canton.  If  there  are  several,  each  one  shall 
consist  of  at  least  450,  and  no  more  than  900  citizens. 
This  number  includes  both  absent  and  present  citi- 
zens, entitled  to  vote. 

20.  The  primary  assemblies  are,  for  the  present, 
formed  under  the  presidency  of  the  oldest  person : 
and  the  youngest  shall,  for  the  present,  perform  the 
duties  of  secretary. 

21.  They  are  permanently  organized,  when  a 
president,  a  secretary  and  a  collector  of  votes  have 
been  chosen  by  a  vote. 

22.  If  doubts  arise  in  regard  to  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  voting,  the  assembly  shall  decide  for 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

the  time,  with  a  reserve  for  an  appeal   to  the  civil 
court  of  the  department. 

23.'  In  no  case  shall  the  legislative  body  alone  de- 
cide on  the  legality  of  the  proceedings  of  the  priman 
assembly. 

24.  No  one  shall  appear  armed  in  the  primarv 
assemblies. 

25.  They  have  their  own  police. 

26.  The  primary  assemblies  convene  : 

1.  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  or  rejecting  alter- 
ations in  the  constitution,  proposed  in  the  re- 
visionary  assemblies ; 

2.  for  the  purpose  of  holding  those  elections 
which  belong  to  them  by  the  constitution. 

27.  They  convene  regularly  on  the  1st  of  Germi- 
nal (21st  March  to  19th  April)  of  every  year,  and 
hold  the  election,  as  the  case  may  be, 

1.  of  the  members  of  the  electoral  assemblies  : 

2.  of  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  his  assessors  : 

3.  of  the  president  of  the  municipal  administra- 
tion of  the  canton,  or  of  the  municipal  officers 
in  communes  of  over  5000  inhabitants. 

28.  Immediately  after  these  elections,  in  communes 
of  under  5000  inhabitants,  commune-assemblies  are 
held,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  the  agents  of  each 
commune  and  their  assistants 

29.  All  that  is  transacted  in  the  primary  or  com- 
mune assemblies,  beyond  the  subjects  for  which  they 
are  convened,  and  against  the  forms  established  by 
the  constitution,  is  null  and  void. 

30.  Both  the  primary  and  commune  assemblies 
shall  hold  no  other  elections  than  those  specified  by 
the  constitution. 

8 


86  CONSTITUTIONS   OF    r RANGE. 

31.  At  all  elections  the  voting  is  done  secretly. 

\\l.  livery  citizen  who  has  heen  legally  convicted 
of  having  sold  or  nought  a  vote,  is  excluded  from 
all  the  primary  and  commune  assemblies  for  twenty 
years,  and  in  case  of  a  second  transgression,  for 
ever. 

TITLE    IV. 
ELECTORAL    ASSEMBLIES. 

33.  Each  primary  assembly  nominates,  for  every 
200  present  or  absent  citizens,  who  have  a  right  to 
to  vote  in  such  assembly,  one  elector. 

Up  to  300  citizens,  (inclusively.)  but  one  elector  is 
chosen  ;  for  from  301  to  500,  two  electors  are  chosen; 
three  for  501  to  700 ;  four  for  701  to  900. 

34.  The  members  of  the  electoral  assemblies  are 
chosen  annually,  and  they  cannot  be  re-elected  but 
after  an  interval  of  two  years. 

35.  No  one  can  be  chosen  elector,  unless  he  has 
attained  to  his  twenty-fifth  year,  and  unless  he  unites 
with  the  qualifications  requisite  for  the  exercise  of 
the  rights  of  a  French  citizen,  one  of  the  following 
conditions : 

In  communes  of  over  6000  inhabitants,  that  he 
is  the  proprietor  or  beneficiary  of  an  estate  of 
a  value  equal  to  100  days'  labor,  or  of  a  piece 
of  land,  equal  in  value  to  100  days'  labor ; 

In  communes  of  under  6000  inhabitants,  that  he 
is  the  proprietor  or  beneficiary  of  an  estate 
equal  in  value  to  150  days'  labor,  or  the 
tenant  of  a  tenement,  the  income  of  which  is 
equal  to  100  days'  labor,  or  of  a  piece  of  land 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  87 

equal  in  value  to  the  wages  for  100  days' 
labor ; 
And  in  the  country,  that  he  is  the  owner  or  ben- 
eficiary of  an  estate,  the  income  of  which  is 
equal  in  value  to  the  wages  for  150  days' 
labor,  or  that  he  is  the  tenant  or  farmer  of 
estates,  the  income  of  which  is  equal  in  value 
to  the  wages  for  200  days'  labor.  In  regard 
to  those  who  are  in  part  proprietors  or  bene- 
ficiaries, and  in  part  tenants  or  farmers,  their 
estates  are  estimated  together,  in  their  differ- 
ent characters,  to  the  amount  requisite  for 
their  eligibility. 

36.  The  electoral  assembly  of  each  department 
convenes  annually  on  the  20th  of  Germinal,  (the 
month  from  March  21,  to  April  19,)  and  finishes,  in 
one  session  of  ten  days,  at  the  longest,  without  the 
power  of  adjourning,  all  the  elections  which  are  to 
be  made ;  whereupon  it  shall  be  dissolved. 

37.  The  electoral  assemblies  cannot  be  occupied 
with  any  subject  foreign  to  the  elections  with  which 
they  are  charged  ;  they  can  neither  accept  nor  make 
any  petition  or  address,  nor  admit  or  send  any  depu- 
ties. 

38.  The  electoral  assemblies  cannot  hold  corres- 
pondence with  each  other. 

39.  No  citizen,  who  has  been  a  member  of  an 
electoral  assembly,  can  bear  the  title  of  elector,  nor, 
in  this  quality,  combine  with  those  who  were  mem- 
bers with  him  of  the  same  assembly. 

The  transgression  of  this  article  is  an  infringement 
of  the  general  safety. 

40.  The  articles  18,  20,  21,  23,  24,  25,  29,  30,  31. 


88  CONSTITUTIONS   OF    HUNCH. 

and  32,  of  the  preceding  title,  on  primary  assemblies, 

are  likewise  applicable  to  electoral  assemblies. 

11.  The  electoral  assemblies  choose,  as  the  case 
may  be: 

1.  The  members  of  the  legislative  body,  viz  :  — 
the  members  of  the  council  of  the  ancients, 
and  the  members  of  the  council  of  the  fiv» 
hundred  ; 

2.  the  members  of  the  court  of  cassation ; 

3.  the  grand  jurymen  ; 

4.  the  departmental  administrators; 

5.  the  presidents,  public  attorneys,  and  clerks  of 
the  criminal  courts ; 

G.  the  judges  of  the  civil  courts. 

12.  When  a  citizen  is  chosen  by  the  electoral  as- 
semblies in  place  of  an  officer  who  is  either  deceased, 
or  has  resigned,  or  is  removed,  he  is  chosen  only  for 
the  time  yet  left  of  the  term  of  the  past  officer. 

43.  The  commissary  of  the  executive  directory  of 
each  departmental  administration  is  bound,  under 
the  penalty  of  being  removed,  to  inform  the  directory 
of  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  electoral  assemblies. 
This  commissary  can  neither  detain  nor  suspend 
their  transactions,  nor  be  present  at  their  sessions ; 
but  he  has  the  right  to  demand  the  communication 
of  the  record  of  each  session,  within  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  he  is  bound  to  give  information  to 
the  directory  of  the  violations  which  may  have  been 
committed  against  the  constitution. 

In  all  cases  the  legislative  body  alone  shall  decide 
on  the  validity  of  the  transactions  of  the  electora 
assemblies. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  89 

TITLE    V. 

THE     LEGISLATIVE     POWER. 

GENERAL    PROVISIONS. 

44.  The  legislative  body  is  composed  of  a  council 
of  the  ancients  and  a  council  of  the  five  hun- 
dred. 

45.  The  legislative  body  can  in  no  case  transfer 
upon  one  or  several  of  its  members,  nor  to  any  body 
else,  any  of  the  functions  which  are  by  the  present 
constitution  assigned  to  the  same. 

46.  It  can,  neither  through  itself  nor  through  dele- 
gates,  exercise   either   the   executive  poiver,   or   the 

judicial  power. 

47.  The  quality  of  a  member  of  the  legislative 
body  is  irreconcilable  with  the  holding  of  another 
public  office,  except  that  of  an  archivary  of  the  re- 
public. 

48.  The  law  provides  for  the  permanent  or  tempo- 
rary substitution  of  public  officers  who  are  elected  to 
the  legislative  body. 

49.  Each  department  nominates,  only  in  propor- 
tion to  its  population,  members  of  the  council  of 
the  ancients,  and  members  of  the  council  of  the 
five  hundred. 

50.  Every  ten  years,  the  legislative  body,  by  the 
lists  of  population  sent  in,  decides  on  the  number  of 
members  of  both  councils,  which  each  department 
has  to  elect. 

51.  During  the  interval  no  alteration  can  take 
place  in  this  distribution. 

8* 


90  (  0N81  ii  0TION8   of    h:: 

52.  The  members  of  the  legislative  body  arc  Dot 
representatives  of  the  department  which  lia.s  nomina- 
ted them,  tin/  of  the  collective  nation,  and  no  special 

instruction  can  be  given  them. 

53.  Both  councils  arc  every  year  renewed  by  one 
third. 

5  I.  Members  whose  term  of  three  years  has  ex- 
pired, may  immediately  be  chosen  again  for  three 
years  following;  hereupon  an  interval  of  two  years 
is  required  to  be  chosen  again. 

55.  No  one  can,  in  any  case,  be  a  member  of  the 
legislative  body  for  more  than  six  successive  years. 

5G.  If,  by  extraordinary  circumstances,  the  num- 
ber of  members  of  one  of  the  two  councils  should  be 
reduced  to  less  than  two  thirds,  it  shall  immediately 
give  notice  thereof  to  the  executive  directory,  which 
shall,  without  delay,  call  together  the  primary  as- 
semblies of  those  departments  which  have  to  fill  the 
places  of  members  of  the  legislative  body.  The 
primary  assemblies  shall  immediately  choose  electors 
who  shall  proceed  forthwith  to  fill  the  vacancies. 

57.  The  newly  chosen  members  of  both  councils 
convene  on  the  first  Prairial  of  every  year,  in  the 
commune  which  has  been  fixed  upon  by  the  preced- 
ing legislative  body,  or  in  the  same  commune  where 
it  has  held  its  last  session,  if  no  other  has  been  ap- 
pointed. 

58.  Both  councils  have  their  sessions  in  one  and 
the  same  commune. 

59.  The  legislative  body  is  continual ;  but  it  may 
adjourn  for  certain  periods  of  time,  as  it  shall  deter- 
mine. 

GO.  Both  councils  can,  m  no  case,  assemble  in  the 
same  room. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  91 

61.  The  functions  of  the  president  and  the  secretary- 
can,  neither  in  the  council  of  the  ancients,  nor  in 
the  council  of  the  five  hundred,  exceed  the  term  of 
one  month. 

62.  Both  councils  have,  each  for  itself,  the  right 
of  police,  in  the  places  of  their  session  and  the  adja- 
cent places  which  they  shall  specify. 

63.  They  have,  each,  the  right  of  police  over  their 
members;  but  they  can  award  no  greater  punish- 
ment than  a  reproof,  or  arrest  for  eight  days,  or  im- 
prisonment for  three  days. 

6  1.  The  sessions  of  both  councils  are  public  ;  the 
audience  cannot  exceed  in  number  one  half  of  the 
members  of  each  council. 

The  records  of  the  sessions  are  printed. 

65.  Each  voting  is  done  by  keeping  seat  and  ris- 
ing ;  in  doubtful  cases  the  names  are  called;  but 
then  the  votes  are  kept  secret. 

66.  At  the  request  of  one  hundred  of  its  members, 
each  council  can  resolve  itself  into  a  general  or  a 
secret  committee,  but  merely  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
liberating, and  not  of  transacting  any  business. 

67.  Neither  of  the  councils  can  establish  a  perma- 
nent committee  in  its  midst. 

But  each  council  has  the  right,  if  a  subject  seems 
to  require  a  preliminary  examination,  to  nominate 
from  among  its  members  a  special  committee  which 
is  confined  to  the  subject  given  to  them. 

This  committee  is  discharged,  as  soon  as  the 
council  has  decided  on  the  subject  which  was  given 
to  the  same. 

68.  The  members  of  the  legislative  body  receive  a 
yearly  compensation;  it  is  fixed  for  either  council  at 


<)2  I  ONSTITUTtONl   OF    I  BAN4  B. 

the   value   of  3000    myriagrammes   of  wheat  (613 
hundred  weigh  I  and  ">2  Lbs.) 

69.  The  executive  directory  cannot  order  any  body 
of  troops  to  march  through  or  to  encamp,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  six  myriamcters  (twelve  miles  of  middle 
length)  from  the  commune  where  the  legislative  body 
holds  its  sessions,  except  it  be  at  the  desire  or  with 
the  consent  of  the  latter. 

70.  The  legislative  body  has  a  guard  of  citizens 
about  it,  which  is  taken  from  the  inactive  national 
guard  of  all  departments,  and  is  chosen  by  their 
comrades  in  arms. 

This  guard  cannot  consist  of  less  than  1500  men 
in  actual  service. 

71.  The  legislative  body  determines  on  the  manner 
of  their  service  and  its  duration. 

72.  The  legislative  body  shall  attend  no  public 
ceremony,  nor  shall  it  send  a  deputation  to  it. 

THE    COUNCIL  OF  THE    FIVE    HUNDRED. 

73.  The  council  of  the  five  hundred  is  unalter- 
ably fixed  at  this  number. 

74.  In  order  to  be  eligible  to  the  council  of  the 
five  hundred,  a  person  must  be  thirty  years  old, 
and  have  resided  on  the  territory  of  the  republic  for 
ten  years  immediately  preceding  his  election. 

The  condition  of  the  age  of  thirty  years  is  not  re- 
quired before  the  seventh  year  of  the  republic ;  till 
this  period  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  will  be  suffi- 
cient. 

75.  The  council  of  the  five  hundred  cannot 
transact  business,  unless  at  least  200  members  are 
present. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  93 

76.  The  proposing  of  laws  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  council  of  the  five  hundred. 

77.  No  proposition  can  be  acted  or  decided  upon 
in  the  council  of  the  five  hundred,  except  the  follow- 
ing forms  are  observed : 

Three  readings  of  the  proposition  must  be  had ; 
the  interval  between  two  of  these  readings  can- 
not be  less  than  ten  days ; 

The  discussion  on  it  is  opened  after  each  reading ; 
but  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  may  declare, 
after  the  first  or  second  reading,  that  it  shall 
be  adjourned,  or  that  no  discussion  shall  take 
place  ; 

Every  proposition  must  be  printed  and  distributed 
two  days  before  the  second  reading; 

After  the  third  reading,  the  council  of  the  five 
hundred  decides,  whether  a  postponement  shall 
take  place  or  not. 

78.  Every  proposition  which  has  been  acted  on 
and  rejected  after  the  third  reading,  cannot  be  brought 
forward  again  before  the  lapse  of  a  year. 

70.  The  propositions  adopted  by  the  council  of  the 
five  hundred  are  called  resolutions. 

80.  The  preamble  of  each  resolution  expresses  : 
1st,  the  days  of  the  sessions  on  which  the  three 

readings  of  the  proposition  took  place; 
2d,  the  act  by  which  it  was  after  the  third  read- 
ing declared,  that  a  postponement  should  not 
take  place. 

81.  From  the  formalities  prescribed  in  Art.  77,  are 
excepted  those  propositions  which  are  declared  by  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred  to  be  urgent. 

This  declaration  must  state  the   reasons  of  the 


94  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

urgent  necessity,  and  mention  of  it  must  be  made  in 

the  preamble  of  the  resolution. 

THE    COUNCIL    OF    THE    ANCIENTS. 

82.  The  council  of  the  ancients  consists  of  250 
members. 

83.  No  one  can  be  chosen  a  member  of  the  council 
of  the  ancients  till  he  has  attained  to  the  age  of  forty 
years,  and  unless  he  is,  moreover,  married,  or  a 
widower,  and  unless  he  has  resided  in  the  territory 
of  the  republic  for  fifteen  years  immediately  preced- 
ing his  election. 

84.  The  domicile  required  by  the  preceding  article, 
as  well  as  that  prescribed  in  article  74,  is  not  applied 
to  citizens  who  have  left  the  territory  of  the  republic 
on  a  mission  from  the  government. 

85.  The  council  of  the  ancients  cannot  transact 
business  unless  at  least  126  members  are  present. 

86.  It  belongs  exclusively  to  the  council  of  the 
ancients,  to  adopt  or  reject  the  resolutions  of  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred. 

87.  Whenever  a  resolution  of  the  council  of  the 
five  hundred  has  been  sent  to  the  council  of  the 
ancients,  the  president  orders  the  preamble  to  be  read. 

88.  The  council  of  the  ancients  rejects  acceptance 
to  those  resolutions  of  the  council  of  the  five  hundred, 
which  have  not  been  passed  according  to  the  forms 
prescribed  by  the  constitution. 

89.  If  the  proposition  has  been  declared  by  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred  as  urgent,  the  council  of 
the  ancients  passes  on  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of 
the  act  of  urgent  necessity. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  'J.~> 

90.  If  the  council  of  the  ancients  rejects  the  act  of 
urgent  necessity,  it  does  not  pass  on  the  main  subject 
of  the  resolution. 

91.  If  no  act  of  urgent  necessity  precedes  the  reso- 
lution, three  readings  must  be  had  of  the  same ;  the 
interval  between  two  of  these  readings  cannot  be  less 
than  five  days. 

The  discussion  is  opened  after  each  reading. 
Every  resolution  is  printed  and  distributed  at  least 
two  days  before  the  second  reading. 

92.  The  resolutions  of  the  council  of  the  five 
hundred,  accepted  by  the  council  of  the  ancients,  are 
called  laws. 

93.  The  preamble  of  the  laws  states  the  dates  of 
the  sessions  of  the  council  of  the  ancients,  in  which 
the  three  readings  were  had. 

94.  The  decree,  by  which  the  council  of  the 
ancients  acknowledges  the  urgent  necessity  of  a  law, 
is  with  its  reasons  stated  in  the  preamble  of  the  law. 

95.  The  proposition  of  a  law  made  by  the  council 
of  the  five  hundred,  embraces  all  the  articles  of  the 
same  bill ;  the  council  of  the  ancients  must  either 
accept  or  reject  them  all  to  their  whole  extent. 

96.  The  acceptance  of  the  council  of  the  ancients 
is  expressed,  with  each  bill,  by  the  formula,  signed 
by  the  president  and  the  secretaries  :  The  council  of 
the  ancients  approves. 

97.  The  refusal  of  acceptance,  on  account  of  non- 
observance  of  the  formalities  prescribed  in  the  77th 
article  of  the  present  title,  is  expressed  by  the  formula, 
signed  by  the  president  and  secretaries:  The  consti- 
tution declares  it  null  and  void. 

98.  The  refusal  of  acceptance  of  the  burden  of  the 


96  TITUTIONS    OP    IK  • 

proposed  law  is  expressed  by  the  formula,  signed  by 
the  presidenl  and  commissaries:   The  council  of  (he 

ancients  cannot  accept  if. 

99.  In  this  case,  the  proposition  of  the  rejected  law 

cannot  be   brought    forward   again  by  the  council  of 
the  five  hundred  before  the  lapse  of  a  year. 

100.  However,  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  may 
propose  a  bill,  containing  articles,  which  constitute  a 
part  of  the  rejected  law. 

101.  The  council  of  the  ancients  sends  the  laws, 
which  it  has  accepted,  on  the  same  day  to  the  council 
of  the  five  hundred  and  to  the  executive  directory. 

102.  The  council  of  the  ancients  may  change  the 
place  of  meeting  of  the  legislative  body;  in  this  case, 
it  appoints  a  new  place,  and  the  time  when  the  two 
councils  have  to  repair  to  the  same. 

The  decree  of  the  council  of  the  ancients  on  this 
point  is  irrevocable. 

103.  Yet  on  the  same  day  of  this  decree  neither  of 
the  councils  can  any  longer  transact  business  in  the 
place  where  they  heretofore  held  their  sessions. 

The  members  who  should  continue  business  there, 
make  themselves  guilty  of  an  infringement  of  the 
safety  of  the  republic. 

104.  Those  members  of  the  executive  directory 
who  should  delay  or  refuse  the  sealing,  publication 
and  reading  of  the  decree  regarding  the  violation  of 
the  legislative  body,  are  guilty  of  the  same  crime. 

105.  If  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  days  from  the  day 
which  the  council  of  the  ancients  has  appointed,  the 
majority  of  both  councils  shall  not  have  made  known 
to  the  republic  their  arrival  at  the  newly  designated 
place,  the  administrators  of  the  departments,  or  in 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  97 

case  they  omit  so  to  do,  the  civil  courts  of  the  depart- 
ments shall  call  together  the  primary  assemblies  for 
the  purpose  of  choosing  electors,  who  shall  imme- 
diately proceed  to  elect  250  deputies  for  the  council 
of  the  ancients  and  500  for  the  other  council. 

106.  The  administrators  of  departments  who.  in 
case  of  the  preceding  article,  shall  delay  to  call  to- 
gether the  primary  assemblies,  are  guilty  of  high 
treason  and  of  infringement  of  the  safety  of  the  re- 
public. 

107.  Of  the  like  crime  are  guilty  all  citizens  who. 
in  case  of  the  106th  article,  shall  hinder  the  calling 
together  of  the  primary  and  electoral  assemblies. 

108.  The  members  of  the  new  legislative  body 
assemble  at  the  place  to  which  the  council  of  the 
ancients  had  transferred  the  sessions. 

If  they  cannot  assemble  at  this  place,  the  legisla- 
tive body  is  considered  to  be  at  such  a  place  where 
the  majority  of  its  members  arc. 

109.  No  bill  can  be  originated  in  the  council  of  th< 
ancients,  except  in  the  cases  mentioned  in  the  102d 
article. 

OF    THE    GUARANTY  OF  THE    MEMBERS  OF  THE  LEGISLATIVE 
BODY. 

110.  Citizens  who  are  or   were  members  of  tin 
legislative  body,  can  at  no  time  be  prosecuted,  ac- 
cused, or  judged  on  account  of  what  they  have  said 
or  written  in  the  exercise  of  their  duty. 

111.  Members  of  the  legislative  body  can,  from 
the  moment  of  their  nomination  till  the  30th  day 
after  the  expiration  of  their  official  duties,  in  no  other 

9 


98  C0N81  ii  [JTIONfl   01     ikam  B. 

way  be  broughl   before  court,  than  in  the  manner 
prescribed  in  tin;  following  articles. 

112.  They  may,  <>n  account  of  criminal  actions. 
be  arrested,  when  caught  in  the  very  act;  but  imme- 
diate information  must  be  given  thereof  to  the  legisla- 
tive body;  and  the  prosecution  cannot  be  proceeded 
in  till  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  shall  have  pro- 
posed the  trial,  and  the  council  of  the  ancients  shall 
have  ordered  the  same. 

113.  Excepting  the  case  of  being  caught  in  the  act, 
the  members  of  the  legislative  body  cannot  be  brought 
before  a  magistrate  of  police,  nor  be  arrested,  before 
the  council  of  the  five  hundred  shall  have  proposed 
the  trial,  and  the  council  of  the  ancients  shall  have 
ordered  the  same. 

114.  In  the  cases  specified  in  the  preceding  articles, 
a  member  of  the  legislative  body  can  be  brought 
before  no  other  court  than  that  of  the  high  court  of 

justice. 

115.  Before  this  same  court  they  are  brought  on 
account  of  treason,  squandering  of  public  moneys, 
plans  for  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution,  and  in- 
fringements of  the  internal  safety  of  the  republic. 

116.  No  information  against  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lative body  can  cause  any  prosecution,  unless  it  be 
in  writing,  and  be  signed  and  delivered  to  the  council 
of  the  five  hundred. 

117.  When  the  council  of  the  five  hundred,  after 
having  acted  upon  the  information  according  to  the 
forms  prescribed  in  the  77th  article,  shall  accept  it, 
it  declares  this  in  the  following  words : 

The  information  against ,  on  account  of , 

dated ,  signed  by .  is  accepted. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  (.<0 

118.  The  person  accused  is  then  summoned  ;  he  has 
a  respite  of  full  three  days ;  and  when  he  appears,  he 
is  heard  in  the  hall  of  the  place  where  the  council  of 
the  five  hundred  holds  its  sessions. 

119.  No  matter  whether  the  accused  has  appeared 
or  not,  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  declares,  after 
this  respite,  whether  an  examination  into  his  conduct 
shall  be  had,  or  not. 

120.  If  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  shall  declare, 
that  an  examination  shall  be  had,  the  accused  is 
summoned  by  the  council  of  the  ancients.  He  has 
a  respite  of  full  two  days  for  his  appearance,  and 
when  he  appears,  he  is  heard  in  the  interior  part  of 
the  place  where  the  council  of  the  ancients  holds  its 
sessions. 

121.  The  accused  may  appear  or  not ;  the  council 
of  the  ancients,  after  the  lapse  of  this  respite,  and 
after  having  deliberated  according  to  the  forms  pre- 
scribed in  the  91st  article,  pronounces  the  accusation. 
if  it  shall  be  decided  upon,  and  sends  the  accused 
before  the  high  court  of  justice,  which  is  bound  to 
take  without  delay,  the  necessary  steps  for  the  prose- 
cution. 

122.  Every  transaction  in  both  councils,  in  regard 
to  the  complaint  or  accusation  against  a  member  of 
the  legislative  body,  is  had  in  the  general  council. 

Every  deliberation  on  these  subjects  is  had  by 
raiting'  the  names  and  by  secret  voting. 

123.  The  accusation,  pronounced  against  a  mem- 
ber of  the  legislative  body,  draws  suspension  after 
it. 

If  the  member  be  acquitted  by  the  high  court  of 
justice,  he  resumes  his  place. 


KM)  CONSTITUTIONS  OK  FRANCE. 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  TWO  COUNCILS  BETWEEN  ONE  ANOTHER. 

124.  When  the  two  councils  arc  completely  or- 
ganized, each  gives  to  the  other  notice  thereof  by  a 
messenger  of  state. 

125.  Each  council  appoints  four  messengers  of 
state  for  its  service. 

126.  They  carry  to  each  council  and  to  the  execu- 
tive directory  the  laws  and  acts  of  the  legislative 
body;  for  this  purpose  they  have  admission  to  the 
place  of  session  of  the  executive  directory. 

Two  huissiers  (ushers)  precede  them. 

127.  Neither  of  the  two  councils  can  be  adjourned 
for  more  than  five  days,  without  consent  by  the 
other. 

PUBLICATION    OF    LAWS. 

12S.  The  executive  directory  causes  the  laws  and 
other  acts  of  the  legislative  body  to  be  sealed  and 
published  within  two  days  after  they  have  been  re- 
ceived. 

129.  Those  laws  and  acts  of  the  legislative  body, 
which  are  preceded  by  a  decree  of  urgent  necessity, 
must  be  sealed  and  published  on  the  same  day. 

130.  The  publication  of  the  laws  and  acts  of  the 
legislative  body  is  made  in  the  following  form : 

"  In  the  name  of  the  French  Republic,  (the  law  or 
act  of  the  legislative  body.)  The  directory  orders, 
that  the  aforegoing  law  (or  act)  be  published,  exe- 
cuted, and  the  seal  of  the  republic  be  affixed  to  the 
same." 

131.  Those  laws,  the  preambles  of  wiiich  do  not 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  ]ll| 

bear  test  of  the  forms'  prescribed  in  articles  77  and 
91,  cannot  be  published  by  the  executive  directory, 
and  its  responsibility  in  this  respect  extends  to  six 
years. 

Those  laws  for  which  the  act  of  urgent  necessity 
has  been  passed  by  the  council  of  ancients  are 
excepted. 

TITLE    VI. 
EXECUTIVE    POWER. 

132.  The  executive  power  is  given  to  a  directory 
of  five  members,  who  are  nominated  by  the  legisla- 
tive body  which  has  then,  in  the  name  of  the  nation, 
the  character  of  an  electoral  assembly. 

133.  The  council  of  the  five  hundred  makes  out, 
by  secret  voting,  a  list  of  ten  times  the  number  of 
individuals  as  are  to  be  appointed  members  of  the 
directory,  and  lays  the  same  before  the  council  of 
the  ancients,  which,  also  by  secret  voting,  selects  from 
this  list. 

134.  The  members  of  the  directory  must  be  at 
least  forty  years  old. 

135.  They  can  be  taken  only  from  citizens  who 
have  been  members  of  the  legislative  body,  or  minis- 
ters. 

The  provisions  of  the  present  article  will  not  be 
observed  till  the  9th  year  of  the  republic. 

136.  From  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  year  of  the  re- 
public, members  of  the  legislative  body  cannot  be 
appointed  members  of  the  directory  or  ministers, 
either  during  the  term  of  office  as  legislators,  or 
during  the  first  year  after  the  expiration  of  the  same. 

9* 


102  riTumoNfi  of  francs. 

137.  The  directory  is  in  pari  renewed,  by  the  elec- 
tion of  one  new  member  every  year. 

During  the  firsl  lour  years,  the  easting  of  lots  shall 
decide  on  the  leaving  of  those  who  have  been  chosen 
the  first  time. 

138.  None  of  the  retiring  members  can  be  chosen 
again  before  an  interval  of  five  years. 

130.  Relations  by  blood  in  direct  ascending  or 
descending  line,  brothers,  uncle  and  nephew,  cousins 
in  the  first  degree,  and  relations  by  marriage  in  their 
different  degrees,  cannot  be  members  of  the  directory 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  nor  succeed  one  another, 
except  after  an  interval  of  five  years. 

140.  In  the  case  of  death,  abdication,  or  other  re- 
tirement of  a  member  of  the  directory,  his  successor 
is  chosen  by  the  legislative  body  within  ten  days  at 
latest. 

The  council  of  the  five  hundred  is  bound  to  make 
the  proposition  for  the  new  election  within  the  first 
five  days,  and  the  council  of  the  ancients  must  com- 
plete the  election  within  the  five  last  days. 

The  new  member  is  chosen  only  for  the  time  left 
unexpired  by  him  whom  he  succeeds. 

However,  if  this  time  be  not  more  than  six  months, 
the  person  elected  shall  remain  in  office  to  the  end  of 
the  following  fifth  year. 

141.  Each  member  of  the  directory  presides,  in 
succession,  only  for  three  months. 

The  president  has  to  sign  and  keep  the  seal. 

The  laws  and  acts  of  the  legislative  body  are 
directed  to  the  directory,  in  the  person  of  its  presi- 
dent. 

142.  The  executive  directory  cannot  act  unless 
three  members  are  present. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  103 

143.  It  chooses  out  of  its  own  number,  a  secretary 
who  countersigns  the  documents,  and  enters  the 
transactions  on  a  record,  in  which  each  member  has 
the  right  to  have  his  opinion,  together  with  his  rea- 
sons, written. 

The  directory  may,  if  it  choose,  transact  business 
without  the  presence  of  the  secretary;  in  this  case, 
the  transactions  are  recorded  by  one  of  its  members 
in  a  special  book  of  record. 

144.  The  directory  has  the  care  according  to  the 
laws,  of  the  external  and  internal  safety  of  the 
republic. 

It  may  issue  proclamations,  according  to  the  laws 
and  for  the  execution  of  the  same. 

It  has  the  disposal  of  the  military  forces  ;  however, 
neither  the  whole  directory  nor  any  of  its  members 
can  command  them,  either  during  the  term  of  office 
or  within  the  two  next  following  years. 

145.  When  the  directory  is  informed  that  a  con- 
spiracy exists  against  the  internal  or  external  safety 
of  the  state,  it  may  issue  warrants  of  arrest  and 
summons  against  those  who  are  suspected  as  authors 
or  participators  of  the  same  ;  it  may  examine  them, 
but  it  is  bound,  under  penalty  of  those  punishments 
awarded  against  arbitrary  arrest,  to  send  them,  with- 
in two  days,  before  the  magistrates  of  police,  to  be 
dealt  with  according  to  law. 

146.  The  directory  appoints  the  generals-in-chief 
of  the  armies ;  but  it  cannot  choose  them  from  among 
the  relations  by  blood  or  marriage  of  its  members, 
within  the  degrees  specified  in  article  189. 

147.  It  observes  and  secures  the  execution  of  the 


104  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

laws  in  the  administrations  and  courts,  through  com 
missioncrs  of  its  election. 

1  18.  It  appoints,  bnt  not  from  its  own  members, 
the  ministers,  and  recalls  them  at  pleasure.  It  can- 
not choose  them  under  the  age  of  30  years,  nor  from 
among  the  relations  by  blood  or  marriage,  within  the 
degrees  specified  in  article  139,  of  its  own  members. 

149.  The  ministers  correspond  directly  with  their 
subordinate  authorities. 

150.  The  legislative  body  establishes  the  duties 
and  the  number  of  ministers.* 

This  number  will  be  at  least  six,  and  no  more  than 
eight. 

151.  The  ministers  form  no  council. 

152.  The  ministers  are  responsible,  each  for  him- 
self, as  well  for  the  non-execution  of  the  laws,  as  for 
the  non-execution  of  the  orders  of  the  directory. 

153.  The  directory  appoints  the  receiver  of  the 
direct  taxes  in  each  department. 

154.  It  appoints  the  superior  heads  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  indirect  taxes,  and  in  the  administration  of 
national  domains. 


*  The  number  of  ministers  was  established  on  the   17th  of 
September,  1795.     They  were  six  in  number: 

1.  Of  Justice. 

2.  Of  the  Interior. 

3.  Of  Finances. 

4.  Of  War. 

5.  Of  Marine. 

6.  Of  Foreign  affairs. 

The  salary  of  each  was  one  half  of  what  the  members  of  the 
executive  directory  had. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  105 

155.  All  public  officers  in  the  French  colonies,  ex- 
cepting the  Isle  of  France  and  De  la  Reunion,  are, 
till  peace,  appointed  by  the  directory. 

156.  The  legislative  body  may  give  power  to  the 
directory,  to  send  one  or  more  special  agents,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances,  into  all  French  colonies,  who 
must  be  appointed  for  a  certain  specified  period. 

The  special  agents  exercise  the  same  functions  as 
the  directory,  and  are  subordinate  to  the  latter. 

157.  No  member  of  the  directory  is  allowed  to  go 
out  of  the  territory  of  the  republic  before  the  lapse  of 
two  years  after  the  expiration  of  his  office. 

15S.  Each  member  is  bound,  during  this  interval, 
to  give  to  the  legislative  body  proofs  of  his  residence. 
The  article  112  and  following  to  art.  123  inclusively, 
which  relate  to  the  security  of  the  legislative  body, 
are  also  applied  to  the  members  of  the  directory. 

159.  In  case  more  than  two  members  of  the  direc- 
tory are  in  a  state  of  accusation,  the  legislative  body 
will,  according  to  the  usual  forms,  temporarily 
supply  their  places,  during  the  prosecution. 

160.  Except  in  cases,  mentioned  in  art.  119  and 
120,  the  directory  or  one  of  its  members,  cannot  be 
summoned  either  by  the  council  of  the  five  hundred, 
or  by  the  council  of  the  ancients. 

161.  The  accounts  and  explanations  which  either 
council  may  desire,  are  communicated  to  them  in 
writing. 

162.  The  directory  is  bound  to  lay  every  year,  in 
writing,  before  the  councils,  a  general  review  of  the 
expenditures,  the  state  of  finances,  a  specification  of 
all  actual  pensions,  as  well  as  a  proposition  of  those 
which  it  is  thought  advisable  to  raise. 


100  CONSTITUTIONS    or    I  KANCE. 

Ft  must  give  information  of  the  abuses  which  have 
come  to  its  knowledge. 

163.  The  directory"  can  at  all  times,  in  writing,  call 
upon  the  council  of  the  live  hundred,  to  examine  and 
deliberate  on  a  subject ;  it  may  propose  measures, 
but  not  lay  before  it  propositions  drawn  up  in  form 
of  laws. 

104.  No  member  of  the  directory  can  be  absent 
more  than  five  days,  nor  remove  over  four  myriame- 
ters  (eight  miles  of  middle  size)  from  the  place  of 
residence  of  the  directory,  without  a  permission  of 
the  legislative  body. 

105.  The  members  of  the  directory  can,  when  en- 
gaged in  functions  of  office,  appear,  neither  abroad 
nor  in  their  dwellings,  other  than  in  the  costumes 
proper  to  them. 

100.  The  directory  has  a  guard,  paid  by  the 
republic,  which  shall  consist  of  120  men  infantry, 
and  120  men  cavalry. 

107.  The  directory,  at  public  solemnities  and  pro- 
cessions, in  which  it  occupies  the  first  place,  is  ac- 
companied by  its  guard. 

108.  Each  member  of  the  directory  is  accompanied 
by  two  guardsmen,  when  going  from  home. 

109.  Every  military  body  must  show  to  the 
directory  and  to  each  of  its  members,  the  highest 
military  honors. 

170.  The  directory  has  four  messengers  of  state, 
whom  it  can  appoint  and  again  dismiss. 

These  convey  to  the  legislative  body  the  writings 
and  memorials  of  the  directory ;  they  have,  for  this 
purpose,  admittance  to  the  places  of  session  of  the 
legislative  councils. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  107 

Two  huissiers  go  before  them. 

171.  The  directory  has  its  seat  in  the  same  com- 
mune with  that  of  the  legislative  body.* 

172.  The  members  of  the  directory  have  their  dwell  • 
ing  at  the  expense  of  the  republic,  and  all  occupy  the 
same  building. 

173.  The  salary  of  each  of  them  for  one  year  is 
fixed  at  the  value  of  50,000  myriagrammes  of  wheat 
(10,222  hundred  weight.) 

TITLE    VII. 
ADMINISTRATIVE    AND    MUNICIPAL    CORPS. 

174.  In  each  department  there  is  a  central  admin- 
istration, and  in  each  canton  at  least  one  municipal 
administration. 

175.  Every  member  of  a  departmental  or  munici- 
pal administration  must  be  at  least  twenty- five  years 
old. 

176.  Relations  by  blood  in  direct  ascending  and 
descending  line,  brothers,  uncle  and  nephew,  and 
connections  by  marriage  in  the  same  degrees,  cannot 
be  members  of  the  same  administration  at  the  same 
time,  nor  succeed  one  another,  except  after  an  inter- 
val of  two  years. 

177.  Each  departmental  administration  consists  of 
five  members ;  it  is  renewed  every  year  by  one  fifth. 

178.  Every  commune,   the   population  of  which 

*  The  council  of  the  ancients  held  its  sessions  in  the  palace  of 
the  Tuilleries ;  the  council  of  the  five  hundred  in  the  palace 
Bourbon  ;  the  members  of  the  executive  directory  lived  in  the 
palace  Luxembourg. 


108  CONSTITUTIONS   OP   PRANCE. 

amounts  to  from  5000  to  10,000  inhabitants,  has  a 

municipal  administration  of  its  own. 

179.  In  every  commune,  the  population  of  which 
is  less  than  5000  inhabitants,  there  is  a  municipal 
agent  and  an  assistant. 

180.  The  whole  body  of  municipal  agents  of  each 
commune  forms  the  municipality  of  the  canton. 

181.  Moreover,  there  is  in  the  municipal  adminis- 
tration a  president  who  is  chosen  by  the  whole  can- 
ton. 

182.  In  the  communes,  the  population  of  which 
amounts  to  from  5000  to  10,000  inhabitants,  there 
are  five  municipal  officers  ;  seven  from  10.000  to 
50,000;  nine  from  50,000  to  100,000. 

183.  In  communes,  the  population  of  which 
amounts  to  over  100,000  inhabitants,  there  are  at 
least  three  municipal  administrations.* 

In  these  communes,  the  distribution  of  the  munici- 
palities is  made  so  that  the  population  in  the  district 
of  each  is  not  above  50,000  individuals,  and  not  less 
than  30,000. 

The  municipality  of  each  district  consists  of  seven 
members. 

184.  In  the  communes,  divided  into  several  mu- 
nicipalities, there  is  a  central  bureau  for  matters 
which  the  legislative  body  considers  indivisible. 

This  bureau  consists  of  three  members,  nominated 
by  the  departmental  administrations,  and  confirmed 
by  the  executive  power. 

185.  The  members  of  each  municipal  administra- 
tion are  appointed  for  two  years,  and  every  year  one 


*  The  city  of  Paris  was  divided  into  twelve  municipalities. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FHA!  [09 

half  of  them,  or  the  number  nearest  to  one  half,  and 
this  alternately  now  the  greater  and  now  the  smaller 
fractional  number,  shall  be  renewed. 

186.  The  departmental  administrators,  and  the 
members  of  the  municipal  administrations,  may  b< 
re-elected  without  any  interval  only  once. 

1S7.  Every  citizen,  who  has  been  chosen  twice  in 
succession  a  departmental  administrator  or  member 
of  a  municipal  administration,  and  has  neglected  the 
duties  of  office,  as  such,  in  the  one  or  the  otber  ca- 
pacity, cannot  be  chosen  anew  except  after  an  inter- 
val of  two  years. 

188.  In  case  when  a  departmental  or  municipal 
administration  should  lose  one  or  more  of  its 
members  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  the 
remaining  magistrates  may  elect  temporary  magis- 
trates, in  order  to  complete  their  number ;  who 
shall  remain  in  office  in  such  quality  till  the  next 
election. 

189.  The  departmental  and  municipal  administra- 
tions cannot  modify  the  acts  of  the  legislative  body, 
or  of  the  executive  directory,  nor  delay  the  execu- 
tion of  them.  They  cannot  interfere  in  judicial 
matters. 

190.  The  administrators  are  essentially  charged 
with  the  distribution  of  the  direct  taxes,  and  with 
the  superintendence  of  the  moneys  belonging  to  the 
public  revenues  of  their  district. 

The  legislative  body  establishes  the  rules  and  the 
mode  of  their  functions,  both  in  regard  to  these  sub- 
jects, and  the  other  parts  of  interior  administration. 

191.  The  executive  directory  appoints  in  each  de- 

10 


Ill)  CONSTITUTIONS    01     FRANCE. 

partmenta]  and  municipal  administration  a  commis- 
sioner, whom  it  may  recall  at  pleasure. 

This  commissioner  watches  over  and  sees  to  the 
execution  of  the  laws. 

192.  The  commissioner  in  eacli  local  administra- 
tion must  he  taken  from  among  the  citizens,  domi- 
ciled for  at  least  one  year  in  the  department  in  which 
the  administration  is  located. 

lie  must  he  at  least  twenty-five  years  old. 

193.  The  municipal  administrations  are  subordi- 
nate to  the  departmental  administrations,  and  these 
to  the  ministers. 

Consequently  the  ministers,  each  in  his  depart- 
ment, may  annul  the  acts  of  the  departmental  ad- 
ministrations, and  these  the  acts  of  the  municipal 
administrations,  if  they  be  contrary  to  the  laws  or 
regulations  of  higher  powers. 

194.  The  ministers  may  suspend  the  departmen- 
tal administrators  who  have  acted  contrary  to  the 
laws  and  regulations  of  higher  powers  ;  and  the  de- 
partmental administrations  have  the  same  right  in 
regard  to  the  members  of  the  municipal  administra- 
tions. 

195.  No  suspension  or  removal  has  permanent 
validity  without  the  formal  confirmation  of  the  ex- 
ecutive directory. 

196.  The  directory  may  annul  directly  the  acts 
of  the  departmental  or  municipal  administrations. 

It  may,  if  it  deem  it  necessary,  suspend  or  remove 
the  magistrates  both  of  the  departments  and  can- 
tons, and  bring  them,  if  there  be  cause,  before  the 
departmental  courts. 

197.  Every  decree,  which  orders  the  cancelling  of 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  Ill 

acts,    suspension   or  removal  of  magistrates,    must 
assign  the  reasons  thereof. 

198.  If  the  five  members  of  a  departmental  ad- 
ministration be  removed,  the  executive  directory 
undertakes  the  filling  of  the  offices  till  the  next 
election  ;  but  it  can  choose  the  temporary  represen- 
tatives only  from  among  former  magistrates  of  the 
same  department. 

199.  The  administrations  both  of  departments  and 
cantons  may  correspond  together  only  on  business 
which  the  law  refers  to  them,  and  by  no  means  on 
the  general  affairs  of  the  republic. 

200.  Every  administration  must  give  an  annual 
account  of  the  same.  The  accounts  rendered  by 
the  departmental  administrations  are  printed. 

201.  All  acts  of  the  administrative  authorities  are 
made  public  by  depositing  the  record  in  which  they 
have  been  written,  which  record  is  open  to  the  in- 
spection of  all  citizens. 

This  record  is  closed  every  six  months,  and  is  de- 
posited for  keeping  from  the  day  when  it  is  closed. 
The  legislative  body  may,  according  to  circumstances, 
extend  the  period  specified  for  the  deposition. 

TITLE   VIII. 

JUDICIAL    POWER. 

GENERAL    PROVISIONS. 

202.  The  judicial  functions  cannot  be  exercised, 
either  by  the  legislatice  body  or  by  the  executive 
power. 

203.  The  judges  cannot  interfere  with  the  exercise 


112  CONSTITUTIONS   OP    IHANCK. 

of  the  legislative  power,  <>r  make  enactments.  They 
can  neither  delay  nor  hinder  the  execution  of  any 
law  whatsoever,  nor  summon  before  them  the  ad- 
ministrators, in  regard  to  their  functions  of  oilice. 

204.  No  one  can  be  withdrawn  from  those  judges, 
whom  the  law  assigns  for  them,  by  any  commission, 
or  in  any  other  way  which  is  not  pointed  out  by  a 
previous  law. 

205.  Justice  is  awarded  without  pay. 

206.  The  judges  can  be  removed  only  on  account 
of  crimes  of  which  they  have  been  legally  found 
guilty,  and  can  be  suspended  only  by  virtue  of  an 
accepted  accusation. 

207.  Relations  by  blood,  in  direct  ascending  and 
descending  lines,  brothers,  uncle  and  nephew,  first 
cousins,  and  relatives  by  marriage  in  all  these  de- 
grees, cannot  be  members  of  the  same  court  at  one 
and  the  same  time. 

20S.  The  sessio?is  of  the  courts  are  pitulic ;  the 
judges  deliberate  in  secret;  judgments  are  pronounced 
with  a  loud  voice ;  they  contain  the  grounds,  and  ex- 
press the  proper  words  of  the  law  applied. 

209.  No  citizen  that  is  not  thirty  years  old,  can  be 
chosen  judge  of  a  departmental  court,  or  justice  of 
the  peace,  or  assessor  to  a  justice  of  the  peace,  or 
judge  of  a  commercial  court,  or  member  of  the  court 
of  cassation,  or  juryman,  or  commissioner  of  the 
executive  directory  in  the  courts. 

OF    CIVIL    JUDICATURE. 

210.  The  right  to  have  matters  of  controversy 
passed  upon  by  arbitrators,  chosen  by  the  parties, 
cannot  be  taken  away. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  113 

211.  The  judgment  of  these  arbitrators  does  not 
admit  of  any  further  appeal  and  recourse  to  the 
court  of  cassation,  unless  the  parties  have  expressly- 
reserved  this  right. 

212.  In  each  district  specified  by  law  there  are  a 
justice  of  the  peace  and  assessors  ;  they  are  all  chosen 
for  two  years,  and  may  be  re-elected  immediately  and 
without  limitation. 

213.  The  law  specifies  the  subjects  on  which  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  and  their  assessors  decide  without 
appeal.  It  assigns  to  them  other  subjects  on  which 
they  may  pass  with  the  right  of  appeal. 

211.  There  are  special  courts  for  commerce  on  land 
and  sea;  the  law  will  appoint  the  places  where  it  is 
proper  to  establish  them. 

Their  power  to  give  judgment  without  appeal,  can- 
not extend  beyond  the  value  of  500  myriagrammes 
of  wheat,  (about  102  hundred  weight.) 

215.  Matters  which  do  not  belong  cither  before  the 
justices  of  the  peace  or  before  the  commercial  courts, 
are  brought  directly  before  the  justices  of  the  peace 
and  their  assessors,  to  be  compromised  amicably. 

If  the  justice  of  the  peace  cannot  settle  them,  he 
sends  the  parties  to  the  civil  court. 

216.  In  each  department  there  is  a  civil  court; 
each  civil  court  consists  of  at  least  twenty  judges, 
of  a  commissioner,  and  a  substitute  whom  the  execu- 
tive directory  appoints  and  recalls,  and  of  a  clerk. 

Every  five  years  all  the  members  of  the  court  are 
elected.     The  judges  may  always  be  re-elected. 

217.  At  the  election  of  the  judges  there  arc  chosen 
five  substitutes,  three  of  whom  must  betaken  from 
the  citizens  of  the  commune  where  the  court  holds  its 
session.  *^ 


Ill  CONST]  rUTIONS   01 

218.  The  civil  court  renders  judgment  without 
appeal  in  the  cases  specified  by  law,  where  appeal 

has  been  taken  from  the  justices  of  the  peace  and 
from  arbitrators. 

219.  An   appeal  from   the   decisions  of  the  civil 

court  goes  to    the   civil    court  of  one   of  the   three 
nearest  departments,  as  regulated  by  law. 

220.  The  civil  court  is  divided  into  sections 

A  section  cannot  give  judgment,  if  less  than  five 
judges  be  present. 

221.  The  aggregate  judges  in  each  court  nominate 
from  among  them,  by  secret  voting,  a  president  of 
each  section. 

OF    CRIMINAL    AND    PENAL    JUDICATURE. 

222.  No  person  can  be  legally  arrested,  except  for 
the  purpose  of  being  brought  before  a  magistrate  of 
police;  and  no  person  can  be  arrested,  except  by  a 
warrant  of  a  magistrate  of  police,  or  of  the  executive 
council  as  provided  in  art.  145,  or  by  virtue  of  a 
warrant  of  arrest  issued  by  a  court,  or  the  director 
of  the  sworn  court  of  accusation,  or  by  virtue  of  a 
decree  of  accusation  by  the  legislative  body  in  those 
cases  in  which  it  is  allowed  them  to  issue  the  same, 
or  by  virtue  of  a  sentence  of  imprisonment  or  cor- 
rectional detention. 

223.  That  the  warrant  which  orders  arrest  may 
be  executed,  it  is  required  : 

1.  That  the  same  state  the  ground  of  arrest,  and 
the  law  by  virtue  of  which  it  is  ordered  : 

2.  that  it  be  made  known  to  the  person  whom  it 
concerns,  -and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  left  with 
him. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  115 

221.  Every  person  that  lias  been  arrested  and 
brought  before  a  magistrate  of  police  must  forthwith, 
or  at  least  the  same  day,  be  examined. 

225.  If  it  appear  from  the  examination  that  there 
is  do  ground  of  accusation  against  the  same,  he  is  to 
be  set  at  liberty  forthwith  ;  or,  if  there  be  reason  to 
send  him  to  prison,  he  must  be  brought  there  with- 
in as  short  a  time  as  possible,  which,  in  no  case, 
must  exceed  three  days. 

220.  No  person  arrested  can  be  detained,  if  he 
give  sufficient  bail,  in  all  cases  where  bail  is  allowed 
by  law. 

227.  No  person,  in  case  his  detention  is  ordered  by 
law,  can  be  brought  any  where,  or  held  in  custody, 
except  in  places,  legally  and  properly  assigned  as 
places  of  arrest  or  justice,  or  as  prisons. 

228.  No  jailor  can  detain  or  receive  any  person, 
unless  it  be  by  virtue  of  a  warrant  of  arrest,  accord- 
ing to  the  forms  prescribed  in  articles  222  and  223, 
in  regard  to  a  detention  of  a  person,  a  decree  of 
accusation  or  sentence  of  imprisonment  or  correc- 
tional custody,  of  which  he  must  make  a  minute  in 
his  record. 

229.  Every  jailor  is  bound,  and  no  order  whatso- 
ever can  release  him  from  this  duty,  to  bring  the 
arrested  person  before  the  civil  officer,  who  has  the 
police  of  the  jail  under  his  control,  whenever  this 
officer  shall  demand  it. 

230.  Access  to  the  arrested  person  cannot  be 
denied  to  his  relations  and  friends,  if  they  produce 
an  order  of  the  civil  officer,  who  is  at  all  times 
bound  to  give  the  same,  unless  the  jailor  produce  an 
order  of  the  judge,  entered  on  his  book  of  record,  to 
keep  the  person  in  separate  custody. 


1  10  CONS1  n  rnovs   OF    PRANCB. 

231.  If  any  person,  of  whatever  place  or  office, 
in  whom  the  law  docs  not  assign  the  right  to  arrest, 
shall  issue,  sign,  execute,  or  cause  to  be  executed,  a 
warrant  of  arrest;  or  if  any  person,  even  in  case  of  a 
legal  arrest,  shall  bring,  or  receive  or  keep  any  person 
at  a  place  of  detention,  which  is  not  properly  and 
publicly  assigned  as  such  ;  and  all  jailors  who  shall 
act  contrary  to  the  three  preceding  articles,  render 
themselves  guilty  of  the  crime  of  arbitrary  arrest. 

232.  All  severity  applied  in  arrests,  custodies,  or 
executions,  which  is  not  prescribed  by  law,  is  a 
crime. 

233.  In  each  department  there  are  at  least  three, 
and  no  more  than  six  correctional  courts,  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  those  offences  on  which  there  is  neither 
a  corporal  nor  infamous  punishment. 

These  courts  can  award  no  greater  punishment 
than  two  years'  imprisonment. 

The  passing  sentence  on  offences,  the  punishment 
of  which  does  not  exceed  the  value  of  three  days' 
labor,  or  imprisonment  for  three  days,  belongs  to  the 
justices  of  the  peace,  who  pass  on  them  in  the  last 
resort. 

234.  Every  correctional  court  consists  of  a  presi- 
dent, two  justices  of  the  peace,  or  assessors  to  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  the  commune,  in  which  the 
same  is  established,  a  commissioner  of  the  executive 
power,  whom  the  executive  directory  appoints  and 
recalls,  and  a  clerk. 

235.  The  president  of  each  correctional  court  is 
taken  every  six  months,  in  succession,  from  the 
members  of  the  sections  of  the  civil  court  of  the 
department,  excepting  the  presidents. 


•    CONSTITUTION'S    OF    FRANCE.  117 

236.  From  the  judgments  of  the  correctional 
courts,  an  appeal  lies  to  the  criminal  court  of  the 
department. 

237.  In  regard  to  crimes  which  draw  after  them 
corporal  or  dishonorable  punishments,  no  person  can 
be  prosecuted,  except  by  virtue  of  an  accusation 
preferred  by  a  jury,  or  passed  by  the  legislative 
body  in  cases  where  the  latter  has  the  right  to  pass 
the  same. 

23S.  A  jury  first  declares  whether  an  accusation 
be  accepted  or  rejected;  a  second  jury  passes  on  all 
matters  of  fact;  and  the  punishment,  fixed  by  law, 
is  awarded  by  the  penal  courts. 

239.  The  jurymen  vote  by  secret  voting. 

240.  In  each  department  there  are  as  many  grand 
juries,  as  there  are  correctional  courts. 

The  presidents  of  the  correctional  courts,  each  in 
his  district,  are  their  directors. 

In  communes  over  50,000  souls  there  may  by 
law  be  appointed,  beside  the  president  of  the  correc- 
tional court,  as  many  directors  of  the  grand  juries, 
as  business  may  require. 

211.  The  functions  of  the  commissioner  of  the 
executive  power,  and  of  the  clerk  to  the  director 
of  the  grand  jury,  are  performed  by  the  commis- 
sioner and  clerk  of  the  correctional  court. 

212.  Every  director  of  the  grand  jury  has  the 
immediate  superintendence  overall  the  police  officers 
of  his  district. 

243.  The  director  of  the  grand  jury  prosecutes, 
as  magistrate  of  the  police,  according  to  the  informa- 
tion which  the  public  prosecutor  gives,  as  well  ear- 


1  IS  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

officio  as  according  to  the  commands  of  the  executive 

directory, 

1.  Infringements  of  the  personal  liberty  or  se- 
curity of  citizens ; 

2.  thosa  which  are  committed  against  the  laws 
of  nations  ; 

3.  revolt  against  the  execution  both  of  judicial 
orders  and  executive  acts,  which  issue  from 
the  constitutional  powers ; 

4.  disturbances  and  violences  committed  in 
order  to  hinder  the  raising  of  taxes,  the  free 
circulation  of  provisions,  and  other  subjects 
of  trade. 

244.  In  each  department  there  is  a  criminal  court. 

245.  The  criminal  court  consists  of  a  president,  a 
public  prosecutor,  four  judges  taken  from  the  civil 
court,  the  commissioner  of  the  executive  power  of 
this  same  court,  or  his  substitute,  and  a  clerk. 

At  the  criminal  court  of  the  department  of  the 
Seine,  there  is  a  vice-president  and  a  substitute  of 
the  public  prosecutor.  This  court  is  divided  into 
two  sections  ;  eight  members  of  the  civil  court  act  as 
judges. 

246.  The  presidents  of  the  sections  of  the  civil 
court  cannot  fill  the  offices  of  judges  in  the  criminal 
court. 

247.  The  other  judges  fulfil  the  duties  of  their 
office,  each  in  his  turn  during  six  months,  in  the 
order  of  their  nomination,  and  during  this  time 
they  can  exercise  no  functions  in  the  civil  court. 

248.  The  duty  of  the  public  prosecutor  is  : 

1.  to   prosecute    the    crimes    according   to   the 
accusations  found  as  true  by  the  first  juries  ; 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  119 

2.  to  deliver  to  the  magistrates  of  police  the  in- 
formations directly  made  to  him  ; 

3.  to  watch  over  the  officers  of  police  of  the 
department,  and  in  case  of  negligence  or 
greater  crimes,  to  proceed  against  them  ac- 
cording to  law. 

249.  The  duty  of  the  commissioner  of  the  execu- 
tive power  shall  be  : 

1.  During  the  course  of  the  prosecution  to  re- 
quire the  due  observation  of  forms,  and,  before 
the  sentence,  the  due  application  of  law  ; 

2.  to  see  to  the  execution  of  the  sentences  passed 
by  the  court. 

250.  The  judges  cannot  lay  before  the  juries  com- 
plicated questions. 

251.  The  traverse  jury  consists  of  twelve  jury- 
men; the  accused  has  the  right,  without  assigning 
reasons,  to  reject  such  a  number  of  them  as  the  law- 
shall  determine. 

252.  The  proceedings  before  the  traverse  jury  are 
public,  and  the  accused  cannot  be  denied  the  assist- 
ance of  counsel,  whom  they  themselves  may  choose, 
or  who  is  appointed  for  them  by  court. 

253.  He  who  has  been  acquitted  by  a  legal  ver- 
dict of  the  jury,  cannot  again  be  put  on  trial  or  ac- 
cused for  the  same  cause. 


OF    THE    COURT    OF    CASSATION. 

251.  There  is  a  court  of  cassation  for  the  whole 
republic.     It  passes, 

1.  On  applications  for  cassation  of  judgments 
passed  by  courts,  in  the  last  resort  : 


120  I  ON    I  i  I  i   i  IONS    OF    M:a\'  B. 

2.  on  applications  for  removal  of  cases  from  one 
court  to  another,  by  reason  of  Legal  suspicion 

or  of  the  public  peace; 

3.  on  orders  of  judges,  or  on  complaints  against 
a  whole  court. 

2.").").  The  court  of  cassation  can,  in  no  case,  exam- 
ine the  main  subject  of  the  lawsuit ;  but  it  annuls 
the  judgments  which  have  been  passed  according  to 
proceedings,  in  which  the  forms  have  been  violated, 
or  which  contain  an  express  transgression  of  the  law. 
and  it  refers  the  main  subject  to  a  court  which  has 
jurisdiction  over  it. 

256.  If,  after  one  cassation,  the  second  judgment 
in  regard  to  the  main  subject,  after  the  same  legal 
proceedings  as  were  had  at  first,  is  objected  to,  the 
question  can  no  more  be  acted  on  by  the  court  of 
cassation,  without  laying  it  first  before  the  legisla- 
tive body,  which  shall  pass  a  law,  by  which  the 
court  of  cassation  is  to  be  governed. 

257.  The  court  of  cassation  is  bound  to  send 
every  year,  to  each  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  legisla- 
tive body,  a  deputation  which  shall  lay  before  the 
latter  a  list  of  the  judgments  pronounced,  with  the 
necessary  annotations,  and  the  titles  of  the  laws,  on 
which  the  judgments  are  founded. 

25S.  The  number  of  judges  of  the  court  of  cassa- 
tion can  never  exceed  three  fourths  of  the  number  of 
departments. 

259.  This  court  is  every  year  renewed  by  one  fifth. 

The  electoral  assemblies  of  the  departments  nomi- 
nate alternately  the  judges,  who  are  to  take  the 
places  of  those  that  leave  the  court  of  cassation. 

The  judges  of  this  court  may  always  be  re-elected. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FIIAV  1  I  I 

260.  Each  judge  of  the  court  of  cassation  lias  a 
substitute,  whom  the  same  electoral  assembly  nomi- 
nates. 

261.  In  every  court  of  cassation  there  is  a  com- 
missioner and  a  substitute,  whom  the  executive  di- 
rectory  nominates  and  recalls. 

262.  The  executive  directory  informs,  through  its 
commissioner,  the  court  of  cassation  of  the  acts  by 
which  the  judges  have  overstepped  their  power  :  but 
this  shall  not  injuriously  affect  the  parties  interested. 

263.  The  court  annuls  these  acts,  and  if  a  crime 
of  office  be  found  to  have  been  committed,  the  mat- 
ter is  laid  before  the  legislative  body,  which  issues 
the  decree  of  accusation,  after  having  first  heard  or 
summoned  the  accused. 

264.  The  legislative  body  cannot  annul  the  judg- 
ments of  the  court  of  cassation,  but  it  may  prosecute 
the  judges  in  person,  who  have  been  guilty  of  ;i 
crime  of  office. 

THE    HIGH    COURT   OF    JUSTICE. 

265.  There  is  a  high  court  of  justice  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  the  complaints  preferred  by  tin'  legislative 
body,  both  against  their  own  members  and  against 
those  of  the  executive  directory  . 

266.  The  high  court  of  justice  consists  of  five 
judges  and  two  national  prosecutors,  who  air  taken 
from  the  court  of  cassation,  and  of  the  grand  jury- 
men who  are  chosen  by  the  electoral  assemblies  of 
the  departments. 

267.  The  high  court  of  justice  is  established  by  a 
proclamation  of  the  legislative  body,  which  the  coun- 
cil of  the  five  hundred  draws  up  and  publishes. 

11 


\ll  CONSTITUTIONS   OF   I  KANCE. 

268.  It   is  formed  and  holds  its  sessions    at  the 

place  which  is  designated  in  the  proclamation  of  the 
five  hundred. 

This  place  must  be  at  least  twelve  myriameters 
(il  middle  miles)  distant  from  the  place  where  the 
legislative  hody  has  its  seat. 

269.  When  the  legislative  body  has  proclaimed 
the  establishment  of  a  high  court  of  justice,  the 
court  of  cassation  chooses  fifteen  of  its  members  in 
a  public  session,  by  lot.  It  nominates,  hereupon,  in 
the  same  session,  by  secret  voting,  five  of  these  fif- 
teen ;  the  five  judges  thus  nominated,  are  the  judges 
of  the  high  court  of  justice  :  they  choose  their  presi- 
dent among  themselves. 

270.  The  court  of  cassation,  at  the  same  session, 
nominates,  by  secret  balloting  and  absolute  majority, 
two  of  its  members,  to  take  the  place  of  public  pro- 
secutors in  the  high  court  of  justice. 

271.  The  acts  of  accusation  are  drawn  up  by  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred. 

272.  The  electoral  assemblies  of  each  department 
nominate,  every  year,  a  juryman  for  the  high  court 
of  justice. 

273.  The  executive  directory  causes,  one  month 
after  the  time  of  the  elections,  the  list  of  the  jury- 
men chosen  for  the  high  court  of  justice,  to  be  printed 
and  published. 

TITLE    IX. 
OF    THE    ARMED    FORCES. 

274.  The  armed  force  is  established,  to  protect  the 
state  against  foreign  enemies,   and  to  secure  in  the 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  1  23 

interior  the  preservation  of  peace  and  the  execution 
of  the  laws. 

275.  The  public  force  must  be  essentially  obcdb  nt . 
no  armed  body  can  deliberate. 

270.  It  is  divided  into  the  inactive  national  guard 
and  the  active  national  a;uard. 


OF    THE    INACTIVE    NATIONAL    GUARD. 

277.  The  inactive  national  guard  consists  of  all 
citizens,  and  sons  of  citizens,  who  are  able  to  bear 
arms. 

278.  Their  organization  and  discipline  are  the 
same  throughout  the  republic  ;  they  are  specified  by 
law. 

279.  No  Frenchman  can  exercise  the  rights  of  a 
citizen,  unless  he  is  registered  in  the  list  of  the  in- 
active national  guard. 

280.  Order  of  rank  and  subordination  take  place 
only  in  regard  to  the  service,  and  during  the  same. 

281.  The  officers  of  the  inactive  national  guard 
are  chosen  by  the  citizens,  of  whom  it  consists,  only 
for  a  given  time,  and  they  can  be  re-elected  only  after 
a  certain  interval. 

282.  The  command  of  the  national  guard  of  a 
whole  department,  cannot  be  given  to  one  citizen 
permanently. 

283.  When  it  is  considered  necessary  to  assemble 
the  whole  national  guard  of  a  department,  the  exec- 
utive directory  may  appoint  a  temporary  commander. 

284.  The  command  of  the  inactive  national  guard, 
in  a  city  of  100,000  inhabitants  and  more,  cannot  be 
permanently  intrusted  to  one  citizen. 


124  co.Nsrni  rioNS  op  pbance. 


OF    THE    NATIONAL    GUARD   IN    ACTIVE   SERVICE. 

285.  The  republic  supports,  even  in  time  of  peace, 
an  army  by  land  and  sea,  under  the  name  of  na- 
tional guard  in  active  service. 

286.  The  army  is  made  up  of  volunteers,  and,  if 
required,  in  such  a  manner  as  the  law  shall  establish. 

287.  No  alien,  who  has  not  acquired  the  rights  of 
a  French  citizen,  can  be  received  into  the  French 
army,  except  he  has  fought  through  one  or  more 
campaigns  for  the  establishment  of  the  republic. 

288.  The  commanders,  or  highest  officers  on  land 
and  sea,  are  appointed  only  in  case  of  war;  they  re- 
ceive their  commissions  from  the  executive  directory, 
which  may  be  recalled  at  pleasure.  The  duration  of 
these  commissions  is  limited  to  one  campaign,  but 
they  may  be  prolonged. 

289.  The  general  command  of  the  armies  of  the 
republic  cannot  be  intrusted  to  one  single  person. 

290.  The  land  and  sea  forces  are  subject  to  special 
laws,  as  regards  discipline,  form  of  sentences,  and 
nature  of  punishments. 

291.  No  part  of  the  inactive,  and  also  of  the  active 
national  guard,  can  do  any  thing  as  regards  the  inte- 
rior service  of  the  republic,  except  by  a  written 
summons  of  the  civic  power,  according  to  the  forms 
prescribed  by  law. 

292.  The  public  force  can  be  called  upon  by  the 
civic  powers  only  in  the  extent  of  their  territory;  it 
cannot  go  from  one  canton  into  another,  without  the 
authorization  of  the  departmental  government,  nor 
from  one  department  into  another,  without  an  order 
from  the  executive  directory. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  125 

293.  The  legislative  body,  however,  establishes  the 
means  to  secure,  through  the  public  power,  the  exe- 
cution of  sentences,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  ac- 
cused, throughout  the  whole  French  territory. 

294.  In  case  of  an  imminent  threatening  danger, 
the  municipal  administration  of  a  canton  may  call 
upon  the  national  guard  of  the  neighboring  cantons. 
Tn  this  case,  both  the  administration  which  has 
summoned,  and  the  commanders  of  the  national 
guard,  that  have  been  summoned,  are  bound  to  give 
immediate  notice  thereof  to  the  departmental  admin- 
istration. 

295.  No  foreign  corps  of  troops  can  be  brought 
into  the  French  territory,  without  the  previous  as- 
sent of  the  legislative  body. 


TITLE    X- 

PUBLIC    INSTRUCTION. 

296.  There  shall  be  in  the  republic,  primary 
schools,  in  which  the  pupils  shall  learn  to  read  and 
write,  and  the  elements  of  arithmetic  and  morals: 
tho  republic  provides  for  the  expense  of  dwelling- 
houses  of  teachers  who  preside  over  these  schools. 

297.  There  shall  be,  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
republic,  higher  schools  than  these  primary  ones,  in 
such  a  manner  that  there  is  at  least  one  for  every 
two  departments. 

298.  There  shall  be,  for  the  whole  republic,  a  na- 
tional institute,  the  duty  of  which  it  shall  be,  to  col- 
lect discoveries,  and  to  perfect  the  arts  and  sciences. 

299.  The  different  institutions  for  public  instruc- 

11* 


126  CONSTITUTIONS   OP    FB  \M."i:. 

tion  have  among  one  another  no  relation  of  subor- 
dinancy  or  uniformity  of  administration. 

300.  The  citizens  have  a  right  to  establish  special 

institutions  for  education  and  instruction,  as  veil  as 
free  societies  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  pro- 
gress of  sciences  and  arts. 

301.  National  festivals  shall  be  arranged  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  among  the  citizens  the  feeling 
of  brotherhood,  and  of  making  them  attached  to  the 
constitution,  the  country,  and  the  laws. 


TITLE    XI. 

FINANCES. TAXES. 

302.  The  public  taxes  are  every  year  considered 
and  established  by  the  legislative  body.  It  belongs 
alone  to  the  same,  to  lay  taxes;  they  cannot  exist 
longer  than  a  year,  unless  they  are  expressly  renewed 
by  the  same. 

303.  The  legislative  body  may  introduce  any  kind 
of  taxes,  which  it  may  deem  necessary  ;  but  it  must 
lay  every  year  a  tax  on  real  and  personal  estate. 

304.  Every  individual  who  is  not  included  in  arti- 
cles 12  and  13  of  the  constitution,  and  in  the  register 
of  direct  taxes,  has  the  right  to  appear  before  the 
municipal  administration  of  his  commune,  and  have 
himself  enrolled  for  a  personal  tax,  equal  to  the  local 
value  of  three  days'  manual  labor. 

305.  The  registering,  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
article  can  be  done  only  in  the  month  Messidor  of 
every  year  (from  the  19th  of  June  to  ISth  of  July.) 

30ti.  The  taxes  of  every  description  are  distributed 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  127 

among   all    taxable  persons    in  proportion    to    their 
property. 

307.  The  executive  directory  guides  and  watches 
over  the  raising  and  payment  of  taxes,  and  issues  all 
necessary  orders  accordingly. 

308.  The  detailed  accounts  regarding  the  expendi- 
tures of  the  ministers,  are  signed  and  testified  to  by 
them,  and  published  at  the  commencement  of  every 
year. 

The  same  rule  applies  to  the  accounts  of  the 
income  of  the  different  taxes  and  of  all  public 
revenr.es. 

309.  The  accounts  of  these  expenditures  and  re- 
ceipts are  stated  separately  according  to  their  nature; 
they  contain  the  sums  received  and  expended  every 
year  in  each  department  of  the  general  administration. 

310.  In  like  manner  there  shall  be  published  the 
accounts  of  the  special  expenditures  of  the  depart- 
ments, and  those  which  relate  to  the  courts,  the  ad- 
ministrations, the  progress  of  science,  and  to  all  the 
public  works  and  institutions. 

311.  The  departmental  administrations  and  muni- 
cipalities can  make  no  change  regarding  the  sums 
determined  upon  by  the  legislative  body,  nor,  with- 
out being  empowered  by  the  latter,  negotiate  or  allow 
a  local  loan  on  the  citizens  of  the  departments,  of  the 
communes  or  of  the  cantons. 

312.  The  legislative  body  alone  has  the  right  to 
order  the  making  and  circulating  of  all  kinds  of  coins, 
and  to  establish  their  value,  weight  and  stamp. 

313.  The  directory  has  the  supcrinti'iidriice  of  the 
making  of  coins,  and  appoints  the  officers,  who  have 
the  immediate  exercise  of  this  superintendence. 


128  CONSTITUTION!   OF   PRANCE. 

314.  The  legislative  body  establishes  the  taxes  of 
the  colonics,  and  their  mercantile  relations  to  the 
mother  state. 

THE    NATIONAL    TREASURY    AND    ACCOUNTS. 

315.  There  shall  be  five  commissioners  of  the 
national  treasury,  who  are  appointed  by  the  council 
of  the  ancients  from  a  threefold  list  prepared  by  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred. 

316.  Their  term  of  office  is  five  years ;  one  of  them 
ir  removed  every  year,  and  may  always  be  chosen 
again  without  any  interval. 

317.  The  duties  of  the  commissioners  of  the 
national  treasury  are,  to  have  the  superintendence 
over  the  receipts  of  all  national  moneys  ;  to  regulate 
the  application  of  the  moneys  and  the  payment  of  all 
public  expenses,  of  which  the  legislative  body  shall 
have  approved  ;  to  keep  an  open  account  of  dis- 
bursements and  income  with  the  different  adminis- 
trations of  the  national  revenues,  and  with  the  pay- 
masters in  the  departments ;  to  carry  on  the  neces- 
sary correspondence  with  the  said  collectors  and 
paymasters,  and  with  the  administrations,  in  order  to 
insure  the  accurate  and  regular  paying  over  of  the 
moneys. 

318  They  can,  without  rendering  themselves 
guilty  of  a  crime  of  office,  allow  no  payment  to  be 
made,  except  by  virtue  of, 

1.  a  decree  of  the  legislative  body,  and  to  the 

amount  of  the  sum  specified  by  the  same 
for  every  object; 

2.  a  decree  of  the  directory ; 


CONSTITUTION*    OF    FRANCE.  129 

3.  the  signature  of  the  minister  who  proposes 
the  expense. 

319.  Nor  can  they,  without  rendering  themselves 
guilty  of  an  official  crime,  approve  of  any  payment, 
unless  the  order  signed  by  the  minister  to  whose  de- 
partment the  expenditure  belongs,  bear  the  date  both 
of  the  decree  of  the  executive  directory,  and  of  the 
resolves  of  the  legislative  body,  which  allow  the  pay- 
ment. 

320.  The  collectors  of  the  direct  taxes  in  each 
department,  the  different  national  administrations, 
and  paymasters  in  the  departments,  deliver  over 
their  accounts  to  the  national  treasury,  which  shall 
examine  and  approve  of  them. 

321.  There  shall  be  Jive  commissioners  of  the 
national  accounts,  who  are  chosen  by  the  legislative 
body  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  manner  and 
on  the  same  conditions,  as  the  commissioners  of  the 
treasury. 

322.  The  general  accounts  of  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  republic,  supported  by  the  special 
accounts  and  vouchers,  are  by  the  commissioners  of 
the  treasury  laid  before  the  commissioners  of  ac- 
counts, who  examine  the  same  and  certify  to  them. 

323.  The  commissioners  of  accounts  must  give  to 
the  legislative  body,  information  of  the  abuses,  defal- 
cations, and  all  cases  of  responsibility  which  they 
discover  in  the  course  of  their  business ;  they  propose, 
on  their  part,  measures  advantageous  to  the  republic. 

324.  The  results  of  the  accounts,  approved  of  by 
the  commissioners  of  accounts,  are  printed  and  pub- 
lished. 

325.  The    commissioners,    both  of    the    national 


130  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

treasury  and   of  accounts,  can  be   suspended   or    n 
moved  only  by  the  legislative  body. 

But  during  tbe  adjournment  of  the  legislative 
body,  tbe  executive  directory  may  suspend  and  tem- 
porarily replace  the  commissioners  of  the  national 
treasury  ;  however,  only  two  in  number  at  most,  and 
on  condition  that  it  report  thereon  to  the  two  councils 
of  the  legislative  body,  as  soon  as  they  resume  their 
session. 


TITLE    XII. 
FOREIGN    RELATIONS. 

326.  War  cannot  be  declared  except  by  a  decree  of 
the  legislative  body,  at  the  formal  and  urgent  proposal 
of  the  executive  directory. 

327.  The  two  legislative  councils  issue  together, 
in  the  usual  forms,  the  decree  by  which  war  is  de- 
clared. 

328.  In  case  of  anticipated  or  commenced  hostili- 
ties, threats  or  preparations  of  war  against  the 
French  republic,  the  executive  directory  is  bound 
to  apply,  for  the  defence  of  the  state,  the  means  in 
its  power,  under  the  responsibility  of  informing  the 
legislative  body  thereof  without  delay. 

It  may,  in  this  case,  point  out  the  increase  of 
forces,  and  the  new  regulations  to  be  made  by  the  le- 
gislative power,  which  circumstances  might  require. 

329.  The  directory  alone  can  maintain  foreign 
political  relations,  carry  on  negotiations,  distribute 
the  forces  on  land  and  sea,  as  it  may  seem  proper, 
and,  in  case  of  war,  determine  their  movements. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  131 

330.  It  is  authorized  to  conclude  preliminary 
agreements,  as  short  armistices,  declarations  of  neu- 
trality ;  it  may  also  enter  into  secret  compacts. 

331.  The  executive  directory  concludes  and  signs, 
or  causes  to  be  signed,  all  treaties  of  peace,  alliance 
and  of  long  armistices,  all  compacts  of  neutrality, 
commerce,  and  of  a  different  nature,  which  it  may 
deem  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  state,  with 
foreign  powers. 

These  treaties  and  compacts  are  negotiated  in  the 
name  of  tb.e  French  republic,  through  diplomatic 
agents  whom  the  executive  appoints  and  instructs. 

332.  In  case  that  a  treaty  contain  secret  arti- 
cles, the  provisions  of  these  articles  cannot  cancel 
the  public  articles,  nor  contain  any  curtailment  of  the 
territory  of  the  republic. 

333.  The  treaties  are  not  valid,  until  they  have 
been  examined  and  approved  of  by  the  legislative 
body;  however,  they  may  obtain  temporary  force  at 
the  same  moment  when  they  have  beeu  agreed  upon 
by  the  directory. 

334.  Neither  of  the  legislative  councils  shall  de- 
bate on  war  or  peace,  except  in  a  committee  of  the 
whole. 

335.  Foreigners,  whether  they  be  domiciled  in 
France  or  not,  inherit  the  estates  of  their  relations, 
whether  they  be  foreigners  or  Frenchmen ;  they 
may  enter  into  contracts,  buy  and  take  estates  situ- 
ate in  France,  and  dispose  of  them  like  French  citi- 
zens, in  any  manner  allowed  by  law. 


132  CON.-  P1TDTI0XS   01     ! ■  i:  \NCE. 

TITLE   XIII. 

REVISION    OF    Till:    CONSTITUTION. 

336.  If  experience  should  show  objections  to  some 
articles  of  this  constitution,  the  council  of  the  an- 
cients shall  propose  a  revision  of  them. 

337.  The  proposal  of  the  council  of  the  ancients 
is,  in  this  case,  subjected  to  the  concurrence  of  the 
council  of  the  five  hundred. 

338.  If,  in  the  space  of  nine  years,  the  proposal  of 
the  council  of  the  ancients,  confirmed  by  the  council 
of  the  five  hundred,  have  been  made  at  three  different 
periods,  each  being  at  an  interval  of  three  years  at 
least,  an  assembly  of  revision  shall  be  called 
together. 

339.  This  assembly  is  formed  of  two  members 
from  each  department,  who  are  chosen  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  members  of  the  legislative  body,  and 
must  conform  with  the  same  conditions  which  are 
required  for  the  council  of  the  ancients. 

340.  The  council  of  the  ancients  appoints,  for  the 
meeting  of  the  revisionary  assembly,  a  place  which 
must  be  at  least  twenty  myriameters  removed  from 
the  one  where  the  legislative  body  has  its  seat. 

341.  The  revisionary  assembly  has  the  right  to 
change  its  place  of  meeting,  if  it  observes  the  dis- 
tance prescribed  in  the  preceding  article. 

342.  The  revisionary  assembly  does  not  exercise 
any  legislative  or  administrative  functions,  but  con- 
fines itself  exclusively  to  the  revision  of  the  articles 
of  the  constitution,  specified  by  the  legislative  body. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OK    FRANCE.  133 

343.  All  articles  of  the  constitution,  without  ex- 
ception, retain  their  force  as  long  as  the  changes  pro- 
posed by  the  revisionary  assembly  have  not  been 
adopted  by  the  people. 

344.  The  members  of  the  revisionary  assembly 
consult  together. 

345.  Citizens  who,  at  the  time  of  the  revisionary 
assembly  being  called  together,  are  members  of  the 
legislative  body,  cannot  be  chosen  members  of  the 
former. 

346.  The   revisionary  assembly  sends  the  draught 
of  the  changes,  resolved  upon  by  the  same,  immedi 
ately  to  the  primary  assemblies. 

It  is  dissolved  as  soon  as  the  draught  has  been 
sent  to  the  latter. 

347.  In  no  case  can  the  duration  of  the  revisionary 
assembly  extend  beyond  the  period  of  three  months. 

348.  The  members  of  the  revisionary  assembly 
can  at  no  time  be  made  responsible,  accused  or 
judged,  in  regard  to  what  they  have  said  or  written 
in  the  discharge  of  official  duties. 

During  the  time  of  their  official  functions  they 
cannot  be  brought  before  court,  except  by  a  decree  of 
the  members  of  the  revisionary  assembly. 

349.  The  revisionary  assembly  shall  not  attend 
any  public  ceremony  ;  its  members  receive  the  same 
remuneration  as  the  members  of  the  legislative 
body. 

350.  The  revisionary  assembly  has  the  right,  in 
the  commune  where  it  has  its  session,  to  exercise  or 
have  exercised  police  regulations. 


12 


l.'M  CONSTITUTIONS  UK  FRANCE. 


TITLE  XIV. 


OENKKAI.    PROVISIONS. 


351.  There  is  among  citizens  no  other  kind  of  su- 
periors than  the  public  officers,  and  these  are  only  so 
in  regard  to  the  exercise  of  their  offices. 

352.  The  law  recognizes  no  religions  voids,  nor 
any  other  obligation  conflicting  with  the  natural 
rights  of  man. 

353.  No  one  can  be  hindered  from  speaking, 
writing,  printing  and  publishing  his  thoughts. 

Writings  cannot  be  subjected,  before  publication, 
to  any  censorship  whatever. 

No  one  can  be  made  responsible  for  what  he  has 
written  or  published,  except  in  cases  specified  by 
law. 

354.  No  one  can  be  hindered  from  exercising  that 
religion  which  he  may  choose,  if  he  conducts  ac- 
cording to  law. 

No  one  can  be  forced  to  contribute  towards  the 
support  of  any  religious  service.  The  republic  pays 
nothing  towards  it. 

355.  There  are  neither  privileges,  nor  master- 
ships, nor  guilds  nor  corporations  of  mechanics,  nor 
restrictions  of  the  liberty  of  the  press,  of  commerce, 
and  of  the  exercise  of  trade  and  arts  of  all  kinds. 

Every  prohibitory  law  of  this  kind,  if  circum- 
stances make  it  necessary,  is  to  be  regarded  as 
temporary,  and  has  force  only  for  one  year  at  the 
longest,  unless  it  be  formally  renewed. 

356.  The  law  watches  especially  over  the  trades 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  135 

which  relate  to  public  morals  and  the  security  and 
health  of  the  citizens;  but  the  admittance  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  such  trades  cannot  depend  on  any  payment 
of  money. 

357.  The  law  must  take  care  for  the  rewarding  of 
inventors,  or  for  the  preservation  of  the  exclusive 
property  of  their  inventions  or  productions. 

358.  The  constitution  guarantees  the  inviolability 
of  all  property,  or  a  reasonable  compensation  foi 
that,  the  sacrifice  of  which  is  required  by  public  ne- 
cessity legally  approved  of. 

359.  The  house  of  every  citizen  is  an  inviolable 
place  of  refuge.  During  night  no  person  has  the  right 
to  enter  it,  except  in  case  of  fire,  inundation,  or  a 
call  proceeding  from  the  interior  of  the  house.  At 
day  the  orders  of  the  legitimate  authorities  may  be 
executed  in  it. 

No  house  search  can  be  had,  except  by  virtue  of 
law,  and  only  in  regard  to  the  person  or  the  subject, 
which  is  expressly  designated  in  the  warrant  order- 
ing the  search. 

360.  No  corporation  or  association  can  be  estab- 
lished, which  is  opposed  to  public  order. 

361.  No  assembly  of  citizens  can  regard  itself  a 
society  of  the  people. 

362.  No  special  society  which  is  occupied  with  po- 
litical subjects,  can  correspond  with  any  other,  nor 
officiate  with  the  same,  nor  hold  public  sessions 
which  consist  of  members  and  attendants,  different 
from  one  another,  nor  establish  conditions  of  ad- 
mittance and  eligibility,  nor  arrogate  the  right  of 
exclusivencss,  nor  allow  its  members  to  wear  any 
external  mark  of  their  association. 


138  CONSTITUTIONS   09    PBAMCB. 

363.  The  citizens  can  exercise  their  political  rights 
only  in  the  primary  <>r  communal  assemblies. 

364.  All  citizens  hare  the  right  of  presenting  pe- 
titions to  the  public  authorities,  but  they  must  be 
made  only  by  single  individuals;  and  no  leagued  as- 
sociation can  prefer  them  in  their  general  name  col- 
lectively,  except  the  existing  authorities,  and  these 
also  only  on  subjects  which  relate  to  them  as  such. 

The  petitioners  must  never  forget  the  respect  due 
to  the  existing  authorities. 

365.  Every  armed  assembly  is  an  attack  upon 
the  constitution  ;  it  must  immediately  be  dispersed 
through  the  armed  force. 

366.  Every  unarmed  congregation  of  people  must 
likewise  be  dispersed,  first  by  verbal  order,  and,  if 
required,  by  resorting  to  armed  force. 

367.  Several  constituted  boards  of  authority  can 
never  unite,  for  the  purpose  of  acting  together ;  no 
act  which  has  proceeded  from  such  a  union  can  be 
executed. 

368.  No  person  is  allowed  to  wear  badges  of  dis- 
tinction, which  remind  of  past  offices  or  services 
performed. 

369.  The  members  of  the  legislative  body,  and 
all  public  officers,  when  exercising  the  functions 
of  office,  must  wear  the  costume  or  marks  of  power 
with  which  they  are  invested  ;  the  law  specifies  the 
form. 

370.  No  citizen  can  wholly  or  in  part  refuse  com- 
pensation or  a  salary  which  is  assigned  to  him  by 
law,  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

371.  In  the  republic  there  shall  be  only  one  kind 
of  measures  and  weights. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  Iw7 

372.  The  French  time  of  counting  commences 
with  the  21st  of  September,  1792,  the  day  of  the 
foundation  of  the  republic. 

373.  The  French  nation  declares  that  it  will  in 
no  way  suffer  the  recall  of  those  Frenchmen  who  have 
left  their  country  since  the  15th  of  July,  1789,  and 
who  are  not  included  under  the  exceptions  winch 
are  contained  in  the  laws  against  emigrants ;  it  for- 
bids the  legislative  body  to  make  new  exceptions  in 
this  respect. 

The  estates  of  the  emigrants  are  irrevocably  con- 
fiscated for  the  benefit  of  the  republic. 

374.  The  French  nation  declares  likewise,  as  a 
guarantee  of  public  credit,  that,  after  a  legal  appro- 
priation of  national  property,  whatever  its  origin 
may  have  been,  the  legal  owner  shall  never  be  dis- 
possessed of  the  same ;  provided,  however,  that  any 
claimant,  in  case  his  claims  be  well  founded,  shall 
be  indemnified  from  the  national  treasury. 

375.  None  of  the  powers  established  by  the  con- 
stitution has  the  right  to  change  them  either  in  the 
whole  or  in  any  of  their  parts,  excepting  the  altera- 
tions which  may  be  made  by  revision,  and  the  pro- 
visions of  the  13th  article. 

376.  Citizens  must  ever  bear  in  mind,  that  the 
duration,  preservation  and  flourishing  condition  of 
the  republic,  will  principally  depend  upon  the  wis- 
dom of  the  elections  in  the  primary  and  the  electoral 
assemblies. 

377.  The  French  nation  intrusts  the  safe  keeping 
of  the  present  constitution  to  the  fidelity  of  the  le- 
gislative body  of  the  executive  directory;  of  the  ad- 
ministrators and  judges,  to  the  watchfulness  of  fathers 

12* 


138  CONSTITUTIONS   Of   Ml".  N 

of  families,  to  the  wives  and  mothers,  to  the  love  of 
the  young  citizens,  and  to  the  courage  of  all  French- 
men. 

Revised  by  the  representatives  of  the  people,  who 
have  the  supervision  of  the  records. 

(Signed)  Leiiault,  Enjubault. 

Compared    with    the    original  by  us,  the   president   and   the 
secretaries  of  the  national  convention. 

Paris,  the  5th   Fructidor,   in  the  third   year  of  the   French 
republic,  (August  22,  1795.) 

(Signed)  M.  J.  CHENIER,  President. 

Derasey,  Soulignac,  Bernier, 

Laurencot,  Dentzel,  Quirot, 

Secretaries. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    1799. 

In  consequence  of  the  defeats  which  the  French 
armies  suffered,  in  the  year  1799,  under  General 
Scherer  in  Italy,  and  under  General  Jourdan  in  Ger- 
many, the  dissatisfaction  of  the  French  people  against 
the  executive  directory  increased,  and  the  elections 
of  the  20th  of  May,  1799,  brought  a  large  majority 
of  the  opposition  into  the  two  councils.  Rewbell 
was  obliged  to  withdraw  from  the  directory,  and 
Sieyes,  who  was  opposed  to  the  constitution  of  the 
year  III.,  took  his  place.  The  directory  and  both 
the  councils,  on  the  16th  of  June,  declared  them- 
selves to  be  permanent.  Bonaparte,  then  in  Egypt, 
being  resolved  to  take  part  in  the  present  catastro- 
phe, returned  from  there,  and  landed  in  France  on 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  139 

the  9th  of  October,  1799.  He,  acting  in  concert  with 
Sieyes,  overturned,  on  the  9th  of  November  follow- 
ing, the  constitution  and  the  directory  through  mili- 
tary force,  and  the  remainder  of  the  councils  ap- 
pointed a  provisional  government,  consisting  of  three 
consuls,  and  Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  and  Roger  Ducos 
were  nominated.  A  committee  of  the  councils  was 
charged  with  framing  a  new  constitution,  and  Bona- 
parte, who  attended  their  sessions,  knew  how  to  pre- 
vent the  plan  of  Sieyes  from  being  adopted,  and  to 
have  his  own  ideas  and  plans  embodied  in  the  new 
fundamental  law.  This  new  constitution  of  the  8th 
year  of  the  republic  went  into  operation  on  the  27th 
of  December,  and  was  declared  as  adopted  by  the 
people,  on  the  7th  of  February,  18(H). 

The  character  of  this  instrument  will  speak  for 
itself.  Though  France  was  still  called  a  republic, 
it  was  so  only  in  name,  and  it  lost  even  this  a  few 
years  after.  The  essentially  new  feature  in  this 
constitution,  was  the  conservative  senate  and  its  func- 
tions. It  was  this  same  senate  which  declared  the 
dethronement  of  Napoleon  in  1814.  Although  this 
body,  in  lb04,  when  Napoleon  was  declared  empe- 
ror, lost  the  right  of  nominating  consuls,  and  in 
1807,  the  right  of  nominating  tribunes,  it  still  re- 
tained the  right  of  nominating  the  members  of  the 
legislative  body,  the  judges  of  the  court  of  cassation, 
and  the  commissioners  of  public  accounts. 

Two  other  new  features  deserve  to  be  mentioned, 
and  these  are,  that  the  initiative  in  legislation  was 
exclusively  conferred  upon  the  government,  and  that 
the  principal  officers  of  state  were  made  irresponsi- 
ble.    In  the  judicial   department  courts   of  appeal 


140  CONSTITUTIONS   OF    FRANCE. 

were  introduced.  Also,  the  provisions  regarding 
military  persons  and  1 1  i«i r  families  deserve  special 
notice,  in  so  far  as  they  show  the  spirit  in  which 
Napoleon  acted,  and  the  policy  which  he  pursued  to 
make  himself  the  idol  of  his  armies. 

This  fourth  constitution,  which  we  give  here,  was 
again  essentially  changed  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  namely,  in  1802,  when  Napoleon  was  declared 
consul  for  life,  and  in  1804,  when  he  was  declared 
emperor.  As  it  is  our  present  plan  only  to  give  the 
constitutions  of  France  when  a  republic,  we  shall 
not  give  here  the  documents  which  contained  the 
alterations,  and  are  known  by  the  name  of  decrees 
of  the  senate. 


CONSTITUTION    OF    DECEMBER,    179  9. 

TITLE   I. 

OF  THE  EXERCISE  OF  THE  RIGHTS  OF  FRENCH  CITIZENS. 

Art.  1.  The  French  republic  is  one  and  indivisi- 
ble. Its  territory  in  Europe  is  divided  into  depart- 
ments and  communes. 

2.  Every  man,  born  and  living  in  France,  who  is 
twenty-one  years  old,  has  his  name  inscribed  on  the 
register  of  citizens  of  his  communal  district,  and 
has  resided  on  the  territory  of  the  republic  for  one 
year,  is  a  French  citizen. 

3.  An  alien  becomes  a  French  citizen  when  he  has 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  when, 
upon  a  declaration  of  his  intention  to  establish  his 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  141 

domicile  in  France,  he  has  lived  there  for  ten  years 
without  intermission. 

4.  The  rights  of  a  French  citizen  is  lost, 

by  being  naturalized  in  a  foreign  country  ; 
by    accepting   offices    and    salaries    which    arc 
granted  by  a  foreign  government; 
by  joining  a  foreign  corporation  whir  1 1  presup- 
poses a  distinction  of  birth  ; 
by  being  condemned  to  corporal  and  dishonora- 
ble punishments. 

5.  The  exercise  of  the  rights  of  French  citizen- 
ship is  temporarily  suspended  if  a  person  becomes 
bankrupt,  or  the  direct  successor  to  the  estate  of  an 
insolvent ;  by  being  a  servant  for  wages,  being  in  the 
service  of  a  single  person  or  a  household  ;  by  a  judi- 
cial interdict ;  by  being  indicted  before  a  court,  or 
failing  to  appear  before  the  same. 

6.  In  order  to  be  able  to  exercise  the  right  of  citi- 
zenship in  a  communal  district,  a  person  must  have 
acquired  the  right  of  domicile  by  residing  in  the 
same  for  one  year,  and  must  not  have  lost  it  by  an 
absence  of  one  year. 

7.  The  citizens  of  a  communal  district  select,  by 
election,  from  among  themselves  those  whom  they 
deem  most  qualified  for  public  administration.  Of 
these  a  list  of  citizens  is  made,  who  have  public  con- 
fidence, which  list  must  be  ccpial  to  one  tenth  of  the 
number  of  all  those  who  have  a  right  to  vote.  Prom 
this  first  communal  list  the  public  officers  of  the 
district  must  be  chosen. 

8.  The  citizens  named  in  the  communal  Lists  of  a 
department,  also  select  one  tenth  of  their  number. 
In  this  manner  a  second  list  of  confidence,  the  d< 


142  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

partmcntal  list  is  made,   from  which  the  public  offi- 
cers of  the  department  must  be  taken. 

!».  The  citizens  named  in  the  departmental  list, 
likewise  select  one  tenth  of  their  number;  hereby 
a  third  list  of  citizens  of  the  department,  who  are 
eligible  for  public  national  offices,  is  formed. 

10.  The  citizens  who  have  the  right  to  co-operate 
in  forming  one  of  the  lists  mentioned  in  the  three 
preceding  articles,  are  called  together  every  three 
years,  to  fill  the  places  of  persons  deceased,  or  of  those 
members  who  are  absent  for  other  causes  than  on 
account  of  holding  a  public  office. 

11.  They  may  at  the  same  time  strike  out  from 
the  list  the  names  of  those,  whom  they  deem  it  not 
proper  to  retain,  and  supply  their  places  by  others, 
who  enjoy  more  their  confidence. 

12.  No  one  can  be  stricken  out  from  a  list,  except 
by  an  absolute  majority  of  votes  of  those  citizens 
who  have  a  right  to  co-operate  in  forming  it. 

13.  A  person  is  not  considered  stricken  out  entirely 
from  a  list  of  eligible  citizens,  by  being  rejected  from 
another  list  of  a  higher  or  lower  grade. 

14.  The  registration  in  a  list  of  eligible  citizens  is 
only  requisite  in  regard  to  those  public  offices,  for 
which  this  condition  is  expressly  established  by  the 
constitution  or  the  law. 

The  lists  of  eligible  persons  are  for  the  first  time 
made  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  republic. 

The  citizens  who  are  nominated  at  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  public  powers,  constitute  a  necessary 
part  of  the  first  list  of  eligible  citizens. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FiiANCE.  143 


TITLE    II. 


CONSERVATIVE    SENATE. 


15.  The  conservative  senate  shall  consist  of  eighty 
members,  who  are  not  removable,  and  are  appointed 
for  life ;  they  must  be  at  least  forty  years  old. 

In  order  to  form  this  senate,  60  members  arc  6rsl 
nominated;  it  is  increased  in  the  eighth  year  to  62, 
in  the  ninth  to  64,  and  thus  by  adding  two  members 
in  each  of  the  ten  succeeding  years,  till  the  Dumber 
of  80  is  complete. 

16.  The  nomination  to  the  office  of  senator  is 
made  by  the  senate,  who  chooses  among  three  eligi- 
ble candidates,  of  whom  one  is  proposed  by  the  leg- 
islature, the  second  by  the  tribunate,  the  third  by  the 
first  consul. 

It  chooses  only  between  two  candidates,  if  one  is 
proposed  by  two  of  the  nominating  powers.  It  is 
bound  to  accept  one,  who  is  proposed  by  all  those 
powers  at  the  same  time. 

17.  The  first  consul,  when  he  vacates  his  place, 
either  by  resignation  or  expiration  of  the  term  of 
office,  becomes  senator  with  full  and  absolute 
powers. 

The  other  two  consuls  may,  during  the  first  month 
after  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  office,  take  a 
seat  in  the  senate;  however,  they  arc  not  bound  to 
make  use  of  this  right. 

They  have  no  claim  to  this  right,  if  they  resign 
their  consular  office  of  their  own  free  will  ami 
accord. 


Ill  CONSTITUTIONS    01    FRANCS. 

18.  A  senator  can  at  no  time  be  elected  to  any 
other  public  office. 

19.  All  registers,  made  in  the  departments  by  vir- 
tue of  the  9th  article,  must  be  sent  to  the  senate; 
the  national  register  is  formed  of  them. 

20.  It  chooses  from  this  register  the  legislators, 
the  tribunes,  the  consuls,  judges  of  cassation,  and 
commissaries  of  accounts. 

21.  It  confirms  or  annuls  all  transactions  which 
are  by  the  tribunate  or  by  the  government  pointed 
out  as  unconstitutional ;  the  registers  of  eligible 
persons  are  included  among  these  transactions. 

22.  For  the  support  and  the  expenditures  of  the 
senate,  a  definite  income  from  the  national  domains 
is  appropriated;  the  annual  salary  of  each  member 
is  paid  out  of  this  income,  and  is  equal  to  the  twen- 
tieth part  of  the  salary  of  the  first  consul,  (25,000 
francs.) 

23.  The  sessions  of  the  senate  are  not  public. 

24.  The  citizens  Sieyes  and  Roger  Ducos,  who  are 
now  withdrawing  from  the  consulate,  are  appointed 
members  of  the  senate;  they  are  to  unite  with  the 
second  and  third  consuls,  whom  this  present  constitu- 
tion shall  appoint,  and  these  four  citizens  nominate 
the  majority  of  the  senate,  which  in  future  shall  com- 
plete itself  and  make  the  elections  intrusted  to  the 
same. 

TITLE  III. 
OF    THE    LEGISLATIVE    POWER. 

25.  No  new  laws  shall  in  future  be  promulgated, 
except  they  have  been  proposed  by  the  government, 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  ]   I" 

communicated  to  the  tribunate,  and  decreed  by  the 
legislative  body. 

26.  The  propositions  made  by  the  governm«'iir. 
shall  be  drawn  up  in  articles.  The  same  may,  at  all 
times,  retract  these  propositions,  and  bring  them  for- 
ward again  with  alterations. 

27.  The  tribunate  consists  of  100  members,  who 
must  be  at  least  25  years  old.  One  fifth  of  them  is 
renewed  every  year,  and  they  may  be  re-elected  as 
long  as  they  are  on  the  national  register. 

28.  The  tribunate  deliberates  on  the  proposed  laws  ; 
it  votes  on  the  adoption  and  rejection  of  the  same 

It  selects  from  amongst  its  members  three  speak- 
ers, by  whom  the  motives  of  its  declared  wish  re- 
garding each  of  the  propositions,  are  laid  before  the 
legislative  body  and  defended. 

It  informs  the  senate  only  of  unconstitutional  pro- 
ceedings regarding  the  registers  of  eligible  persons, 
and  transactions  in  the  legislatures  and  the  govern- 
ment, in  the  form  of  a  complaint. 

29.  It  may  present  its  wishes  regarding  laws,  al- 
ready made  or  yet  to  be  made,  abuses  to  be  reme- 
died, and  regarding  improvements  in  all  parts  of  tin- 
administration,  but  never  regarding  civil  or  criminal 
cases,  pending  in  the  courts  of  law. 

Its  wishes,  made  known  according  to  the  presenl 
article,  have  no  necessary  effect,  and  bind  no  public 
power  to  deliberate  on  them. 

30.  When  the  tribunate  adjourns,  it  may  nominate 
a  committee  of  ten  or  fifteen  of  its  members,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  call  the  body  together  in  cases  of 
necessity. 

13 


146  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

31.  The  legislative  body  consists  of  300  members, 

who  must  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty  years. 
Om    I'll  lli  of  I  In in  is  renewed  every  year. 

There  must  be  in  the  same  at  least  one  citizen 
from  each  department  of  the  republic. 

32.  A  member  leaving  the  legislative  body  cannot 
join  it  again  till  after  a  lapse  of  one  year.  He  may, 
however,  be  immediately  chosen  to  any  other  public 
office,  including  that  of  a  tribune,  provided  he  be 
eligible. 

33.  The  sessions  of  the  legislative  body  begin 
every  year  on  the  1st  Frimaire  (21st  November), 
and  last  only  four  months.  During  the  remaining 
eight  months  it  may  be  called  together  by  the  gov- 
ernment for  an  extra  session. 

34.  The  legislative  body  makes  the  laws  by  de- 
ciding, through  secret  voting,  and  without  the  least 
debate  on  the  part  of  its  own  members,  on  the  pro- 
posed laws,  which  have  been  discussed  before  the 
same  by  the  speakers  of  the  tribunate  and  of  the 
government. 

35.  The  sessions  of  the  tribunate  and  of  the  legisla- 
tive body  are  public  ;  the  number  of  persons  present 
must,  in  neither  body,  exceed  200. 

36.  The  yearly  salary  of  a  tribune  shall  be  15,000, 
and  that  of  a  legislator  10,000  francs. 

37.  Every  decree  of  the  legislative  body  shall  be 
promulgated  by  the  first  consul,  provided  no  appeal 
has,  during  this  time,  been  made  to  the  senate  on 
the  ground  of  its  being  unconstitutional.  This  appeal 
cannot  be  taken  against  laws  that  have  already  been 
promulgated. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRAN'(  E.  1  J? 

38.  The  first  renewal  of  the  legislative  body  and 
of  the  tribunate  shall  not  take  place  till  in  the  course 
of  the  tenth  year. 


TITLE    IV. 
OF    THE    GOVERNMENT. 

39.  The  government  is  intrusted  to  three  consuls. 
who  are  chosen  for  ten  years,  and  may,  without  ex- 
ception, be  re-elected. 

Each  of  them  is  chosen  singly,  with  the  distinguish- 
ing quality  of  the  first,  the  second  or  the  third. 

The  constitution  appoints  the  citizen  Bonaparte. 
former  provisional  consul,  to  the  office  of first  consul  • 
to  the  office  of  the  second  consul,  the  citizen  Cam 
baceres,  former  minister  of  justice  ;  and  to  the  office 
of  third  consul,  the  citizen  Lebrun,  former  member 
of  the  commission  of  the  council  of  the  ancients.  — 
For  this  time,  the  third  consul  is  appointed  for  fivi 
years. 

40.  The  first  consul  has  special  duties  and  rights 
in  which  he  may,  if  required,  be  at  once  supplied  by 
one  of  his  colleagues. 

41.  The  first  consul  promulgates  the  laws;  li< 
nominates  and  removes,  at  pleasure,  the  members  of 
the  council  of  state,  the  ministers,  the  ambassador. 
and  other  high  foreign  official  agents  (agens  en  chef 
the  officers  of  the  land  and  sea  forces,  the  members 
of  the  local  administrations,  and  the  governmental 
commissaries  in  the  courts  of  justice. 

42.  In  the  other  duties  of  the  government  the 
second  and  third  consuls  have  a  deliberating  voice 


148  CONSTITUTIONS   OP    FRANCE. 

they  sign  the  records  of  these  transactions,  to  prove 
their  presence,  and  may,  if  they  choose,  state  therein 
their  opinions,  whereupon  the  decision  of  the  first 
consul  is  sufficient. 

43.  The  salary  of  the  first  consul  is  for  the  eighth 
year  fixed  at  500,000  francs.  The  salary  of  each  of 
the  two  other  consuls  shall  be  three  tenths  of  the 
salary  of  the  first. 

44.  The  government  proposes  the  laws,  and  makes 
the  necessary  arrangements  to  secure  their  execution. 

45.  The  government  regulates  the  revenues  and 
expenditures  of  ike  state,  according  to  the  provision 
of  the  law  which  establishes  every  year  the  amount 
of  both  ;  it  superintends  the  stamping  of  coins,  which 
may  be  circulated  only  according  to  a  law  which 
establishes  the  names,  weight  and  stamp  of  them. 

46.  If  the  government  shall  have  been  informed 
that  a  conspiracy  against  the  state  has  been  formed, 
it  may  issue  summons  and  orders  of  arrest  against 
the  persons  who  are  suspected  of  being  authors  of  or 
accessories  to  the  same.  But  if  they  be  not  set  free, 
or  delivered  over  to  the  proper  judicial  tribunal, 
within  ten  days  after  their  arrest,  the  minister  who 
has  signed  the  order  of  arrest  shall  be  guilty  of  the 
crime  of  arbitrary  imprisonment. 

47.  The  government  takes  care  of  the  internal 
safety  and  external  defence  of  the  state;  it  distrib- 
utes the  land  and  marine  forces,  and  conducts  their 
movements. 

48.  The  active  national  guard  is  subject  to  the 
orders  of  the  public  administration ;  the  inactive  na- 
tional guard  is  subject  only  to  the  law. 

49.  The  government  regulates  the  foreign  political 


CONSTITUTIONS   OF    FRANCE.  1  19 

relations,  conducts  the  negotiations,  makes  prelimi- 
nary compacts,  signs  and  causes  to  be  signed,  and 
concludes  all  treaties  of  peace,  alliances,  armistices, 
compacts  of  neutrality  and  commerce,  and  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature. 

50.  Declarations  of  war,  treaties  of  peace,  alliance 
and  commerce,  are,  like  laws,  proposed,  discussed, 
decreed,  and  promulgated. 

51.  The  secret  articles  of  a  treaty  must  not  be  op- 
posed to  the  public  ones. 

52.  The  council  of  slate  is  occupied,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  consuls,  with  the  drawing  up  of  /im- 
positions of  lavs,  and  decrees  of  the  public  adminis- 
tration, and  with  the  solution  of  difficulties,  which 
arise  in  the  administrative  department. 

53.  From  the  members  of  the  council  of  state  are 
always  taken  the  speakers,  who,  in  the  name  of  the 
government,  debate  before  the  legislative  body. 

Only  three  such  speakers  are  sent  to  defend  one 
and  the  same  proposition  of  law. 

54.  The  ministers  take  care  of  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  and  of  the  decrees  of  the  public  administration. 

55.  No  act  of  the  government  has  any  legal  force, 
unless  it  be  signed  by  a  minister. 

56.  One  of  the  ministers  is  specially  charg<  d  with 
the  administration  of  the  public  treasure  ;  he  secun  s 
the  revenues,  and  regulates  the  raising  of  money  and 
the  payments  approved  of  by  law.  He  can  order  no 
payment,  except  by  virtue  of, 

1.  a  law,   and  to  the  amount  specified  for  tin- 
particular  kind  of  expenditure; 

2.  a  decree  of  the  government ; 

3.  an  order  of  payment,  signed  by  a  minister. 

13* 


L50  CONSTITUTIONS   OF   FRANCE. 

57.  The  specified  accounts  of  the  expenditures  of 
each  minister,  signed  and  certified  to  by  bim,  are 

published. 

58.  The  government  may  nominate  and  retain,  as 
councillors  of  state  and  ministers,  only  such  citizens 
whose  names  are  contained  in  the  national  register. 

59.  The  local  administrations,  which  are  estab- 
lished for  each  commune,  and  for  extensive  parts  of 
the  territory  of  state,  are  subordinate  to  the  ministers. 
No  one  can  become  or  remain  a  member  of  these 
administrations,  unless  his  name  is  inscribed  and  re- 
tained in  one  of  the  registers  mentioned  in  articles  7 
and  8. 


TITLE    V. 
OF  THE  COURTS  OF  JUSTICE. 

60.  Each  communal  district  has  one  or  more  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  who  are  directly  chosen  by  the 
citizens  for  three  years. 

Their  principal  duty  consists  in  conciliating  the 
parties,  whom  they  shall  advise,  if  conciliation  be 
not  effected,  to  have  their  matters  in  dispute  decided 
upon  by  arbitrators. 

61.  Courts  of  the  first  resort  and  courts  of  appeal 
are  established  for  all  civil  suits.  Their  internal 
arrangement,  their  rights  and  districts  of  jurisdic- 
tion are  established  by  law. 

Articles  62,  63  and  64,  provide  that  all  crimes  are 
passed  upon  by  a  grand  jury,  who  find  a  bill  of 
complaint,  and  by  a  traverse  jury  who  pass  upon 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  151 

the  facts,  and  that  a  criminal  court  of  judges  shall 
award  the  sentences.  Crimes  that  are  not  punish- 
able by  corporal  or  dishonorable  punishments  arc 
passed  upon  by  a  police  court,  from  which  an  appeal 
lies  to  the  criminal  court. 

Articles  65  and  66,  establish  a  court  of  cassation, 
Avith  the  same  powers  which  it  had  under  former 
constitutions. 

Articles  67  and  68,  provide  that  the  judges,  who 
form  the  courts  of  first  resort,  are  taken  from  the 
communal  and  departmental  lists;  the  judges  of  the 
courts  of  appeal  are  taken  from  the  departmental 
list,  and  the  judges  of  the  court  of  cassation  from 
the  national  list.  The  judges,  excepl  the  justices 
of  the  peace,  are  chosen  for  life,  except  they  be 
found  guilty  of  improper  conduct,  or  be  not  retained 
on  the  lists  of  eligible  citizens. 


TITLE    VI. 
OF    THE    RESPONSIBILITY    OF    PUBLIC    OFFICERS. 

Art.  69.  The  offices  of  the  members  of  the  senate, 
of  the  legislative  hody,  of  the  consuls  and  councillors 
of  state,  do  not  include  responsibility. 

70.  Crimes,  liable  to  corporal  or  dishonorable  pun- 
ishments, which  are  committed  by  a  membei  i if  the 
senate,  tribunate,  legislative  body  or  council  of  state, 
are  prosecuted  before  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice, 
after  the  prosecution  shall  have  hern  first  allowed  by 
the  body  to  which  the  accused  belongs. 

71.  Those  ministers  who  are  accused  of  a  private 


152  CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE. 

crime,  liable  to  a  corporal  or  dishonorable  punish- 
ment, are  considered  as  members  of  tbe  council. 

72.  Tbc  ministers  are  responsible  . 

1.  for  an  act  of  government,  signed  by  them, 
wbich  the  senate  declares  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional : 

2.  for  the  non-execution  of  laws  and  of  general 
administrative  decrees; 

3.  for  the  special  orders,  issued  by  them,  if 
they  be  contrary  to  the  constitution,  the  laws 
and  decrees. 

73.  In  cases,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article, 
the  tribunate  sets  forth  the  complaint  against  the 
minister  in  a  special  writing,  on  which  the  legisla- 
tive body  deliberates  in  the  usual  forms,  and  after 
summoning  and  hearing  the  accused.  The  minister 
who  is  delivered  over  to  the  administration  of  justice, 
is  judged  by  a  high  court  of  justice,  without  right  of 
appeal  or  application  for  cassation. 

The  high  court  of  justice  is  composed  of  judges 
and  a  jury.  The  judges  are  nominated  by  the  court 
of  cassation  from  its  own  members ;  the  jurymen 
are  taken  from  the  national  list ;  and  all  this  shall 
be  done  according  to  forms  established  by  law. 

74.  The  civil  and  criminal  judges  are,  on  account  of 
crimes  committed  by  them  in  relation  to  their  official 
duties,  prosecuted  before  those  courts,  to  which  the 
court  of  cassation  shall  send  them,  after  having 
cancelled  their  acts. 

75.  The  official  agents  of  the  government,  except- 
ing the  ministers,  may  be  prosecuted  for  acts  relat- 
ing to  their  official  duties,  only  upon  a  decree  of  the 
council  of  state;  and  this  before  the  ordinary  tribu- 
nals. 


CONSTITUTIONS    OF    FRANCE.  153 

TITLE    VII. 
GENERAL    PROVISIONS. 

Articles  76-84,  provide,  that  every  person's  house 
is  his  castle  and  inviolable;  that  no  person  shall  be 
arrested  or  imprisoned  except  by  a  warrant,  legally 
issued,  and  that  magistrates  and  jailors  guilty  of  a 
breach  of  duty  in  this  respect,  are  liable  to  punish- 
ment for  wilful  arrest;  that  the  right  of  petition  is 
granted  to  every  individual;  and  that  no  armed  force 
can  deliberate. 

85.  Crimes  committed  by  military  persons,  arc  to 
be  tried  by  special  courts  according  to  special  legal 
forms. 

86.  The  French  nation  declares  that  all  military 
persons,  wounded  whilst  engaged  in  the  defence  of 
their  country,  and  all  widows  and  children  of  those 
who  have  died  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  in  consequence 
of  wounds  there  received,  shall  receive  a  yearly 
pension. 

87.  Rewards  shall  be  given,  in  the  name  of  the 
nation,  lo  those  soldiers,  who  shall  have  ji.  t  formed 
distinguished  services  in  battles,  for  the  republic. 

88.  A  national  institute  is  charged  with  collecting 
all  discoveries,  and  with  perfecting  the  arts  and 
sciences. 

89.  A  commission  of  national  accounts  regulates 
and  corrects  the  accounts  of  the  revenues  ami  ex- 
penditures of  the  republic.  This  commission  shall 
consist  of  seven  members,  chosen  by  the  senate  from 
the  national  list. 


L5  I  i  oNsi'i  n  i  [0X8   '»!'    i  KANCE. 

Articles  90-94,  provide,  that  two  thirds  of  any 
legal  body  shall  constitute  a  quorum:  that  the 
French  colonies  are  governed  by  special  laws;  that 
in  caseof  an  armed  rebellion,  the  constitution  may  be 
suspended  by  the  legislative  body,  and  during  its  n- 
cess,  by  the  government  itself:  that  the  French 
emigrants  since  the  14th  of  July,  1789.  are  forbidden 
to  return,  and  their  estates  are  confiscated  :  that  the 
sale  of  all  national  estates  is  guaranteed  to  the  pur- 
chasers. 

95.  This  present  constitution  shall  immediately  be 
laid  before  the  French  nation  for  its  adoption. 

Done  at  Paris,  the  22d  Frimaire  of  the  eighth 
year  of  the  one  and  indivisible  French  republic. 
(13th  December,  1799.) 

(Signed)  REGNIER,  President  of  the  Committee  of  the 

Council  of  the  Ancient*. 
JACQUEMINOT,  President  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Five  Hundred. 
ROUSSEAU,  VERNIER,  Secretaries  of  the  Committee  of  the 

Council  of  the  Ancients. 
ALEXANDER  VILLETARD,  FREGEVILI.E,  Secretaries  of 
the  Committee  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred. 
Roger  Ducos,  Sieves,  Bonaparte, 

Consuls. 


APPENDIX. 


THE    LAW    OF    NATURALIZATION    IN    FRANCE    UNDER 
THE    LATE    MONARCHY. 

The  laws  of  naturalization  varying  in  each  of  the  republican 
constitutions  of  France,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  know,  what  the 
laws  were,  in  this  respect,  under  the  monarchical  government. 
We  therefore  add  these  here. 

The  law  in  France  distinguishes  three  classes  of  Frenchmen. 

The  one  class  only  enjoy  civil  rights,  but  have  not  the  exercise 
of  them  (art.  8). 

The  other  have  the  exercise  of  civil  rights,  but  are  not  citizens. 

The  third,  finally,  have  the  exercise  of  civil  rights,  and  more- 
over the  qualification  of  citizens  (art.  7). 

Every  Frenchman  enjoys  civil  rights.  This  qualification  is 
acquired  either  by  birth  or  operation  of  law. 

Frenchmen  by  right  of  birth  are, 

1.  Every  child  born  in  France,  or  in  a  foreign  country  by 
French  parents  that  have  not  lost  this  character  (art.  10). 

2.  Those  born  in  France  by  unknown  parents. 

3.  Those  who  are  born  either  in  France  or  a  foreign  country 
of  a  French  mother  and  an  unknown  father. 

Frenchmen  by  operation  of  law  are, 

1.  The  foreign  woman  who  marries  a  Frenchman  (art.  12). 

2.  The  citizens  of  a  country  legally  annexed  to  France. 

3.  Finally,  all  those  who  have  complied  with  the  conditions 
and  the  following  formalities  for  the  purpose  of  becoming 
naturalized. 

1.  A  person  being  twenty-one  years  of  age  must  have  de- 
clared to  the  magistrate  (mairie)  of  his  town  (commune)  that  it 
is  his  intention  to  establish  himself  in  France. 

2.  He  must  have  obtained  the  royal  consent  to  hi.s  residing 
there,  and  must  have  actually  resided  there  daring  ten  y<:irs  in 
succession,  to  be  counted  from  the  lime  he  made  his  declaration 
to  the  "  mairie." 

3.  Finally,  the  naturalization  must  have  been  decreed  by  the 
king  ;  for  this  purpose,  the  intention  of  being  naturalized,  and  the 
other  required  certificates,  are  sent  by  the  magistrate  (mairie)  to 
the  prefect,  who  transmits  all  the  papers,  together  with  his  own 
opinion,  to  the  minister  of  justice,  upon  whose  reporl  the  king 
decrees. 

A  person  who  has  complied  with  all  these  formalities,  is  not 
only  a  Frenchman,  but  also  a  French  citizen  ;  nevertheless,  in 
order  to  hold  a  seat  as  member  of  t  he  chamber  of  peers,  01  of 


15G  APPENDIX. 

the  chamber  of  deputies,  the  letters  of  naturalization  must  be 
verified  by  the  two  chambers.     (Ordonnance  da  4  Jain,  1814.) 

The  government  also  is  authorized  to  cofifer  upon  strangers, 
who  have  done  important  service  to  the  state,  the  qualification 
and  rights  of  a  French  citizen  after  one  year's  residence  in  the 
country. 

The  code  points  out  two  other  modes  of  becoming  a  French- 
man. The  first  is  in  relation  to  a  child  born  in  France  of  an 
alien.  The  law  grants  him  the  favor  of  acquiring  the  qualifi- 
cation of  a  Frenchman,  without  having  recourse  to  the  formali- 
ties of  naturalization  (art.  !l). 

The  second  relates  to  a  child  born  in  a  foreign  land  of  a 
Frenchman  who  had  lost  his  rights  ;  this  child  can  at  any  time 
recover  the  rights  of  a  Frenchman.   (Art.  10.) 

Art.  9  of  the  code  is  as  follows  :  Every  individual  born  in 
France  of  a  stranger,  shall  be  able  in  the  year  following  his 
coming  of  age,  to  claim  the  rights  of  a  Frenchman,  provided 
that  in  case  he  resides  in  France,  he  declares  his  intention  to 
establish  there  his  domicile,  and  in  case  he  resides  in  a  foreign 
country,  he  shall  give  in  his  ititention  of  establishing  his  domicile 
in  France,  and  that  he  shall  actually  establish  himself  there 
within  a  year  from  his  application. 

Art.  10.  Every  child  born  of  a  Frenchman  in  a  foreign  land, 
is  French.  Every  child  born  of  a  Frenchman  that  may  have 
lost  the  qualification  of  a  Frenchman,  shall  always  be  able  to 
recover  this  qualification  by  complying  with  the  formalities  pre- 
scribed in  Art.  9. 

The  11th  Art.  of  the  code  enacts,  that  an  alien  shall  enjoy  in 
France  the  same  civil  rights  which  shall  have  been  accorded  to 
Frenchmen  by  treaties  with  the  nation  to  which  the  alien  may 
belong. 

Before  this  enactment,  an  alien  who  resided  in  France  without 
a  royal  consent,  enjoyed  the  right  to  do,  in  the  proper  legal 
forms,  all  the  acts  which  are  derived  from  the  laws  of  nations, 
such  as  those  of  commerce,  buying  and  selling,  &c,  but  he  was 
deprived  of  all  capacity  in  regard  to  those  which  are  derived 
from  civil  law,  such  as  to  receive  in  France  a  gift  inter  vivos  or 
by  testament,  to  enter  upon  an  estate  intestate  left  by  his  parents, 
French  or  alien,  or  to  take  the  benefit  of  the  act -of  insolvency, 
etc. 

The  system  of  reciprocity,  adopted  by  the  11th  article  of  the 
code,  has  principally  for  its  object  the  abolishment  of  the  droit 
d'aubaine. 

L'aubain  (alibi  natus)  is  a  person  born  in  a  foreign  land. 
Droit  d'aubaine  is  called  the  right  of  the  sovereign  to  succeed, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  persons,  to  the  property  of  aliens 
not  naturalized,  who  die  intestate  in  his  dominions. 


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